66 Orionis (HIP 28814)

66 Orionis is a yellow bright giant star in the constellation Orion. At 1,528 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.62. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 26.2 km/s relative to the Sun.

Sky position: RA 6h 5.0m, Dec +4° 9.5'

Common designations: 66 Orionis, HR 2145, HD 41380, HIP 28814, Gaia DR3 3318108290544104960

66 Orionis has the spectral type G6II. G-type stars are yellow stars of about 5,300 to 6,000 K, the same class as the Sun. Their spectra show strong lines of ionized calcium and many metals. Its luminosity class II marks it as a bright giant, more luminous than ordinary giants.

How to find 66 Orionis in the sky

66 Orionis lies in Orion. With a declination of +4° 9.5', it is visible from the entire Northern Hemisphere and from the Southern Hemisphere down to about latitude 86° S. It is bright enough to see with the naked eye under dark skies. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around January, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.

Tabulated data for 66 Orionis

Astrometry and spectroscopy

Right Ascension (J2000)	91.24316214° (6h 5.0m)
Declination (J2000)	4.15866246° (+4° 9.5')
Galactic Longitude	203.85284432°
Galactic Latitude	-8.37585001°
Proper motion RA	1.69 mas/yr
Proper motion Dec	-3.00 mas/yr
Parallax	2.13 ± 0.28 mas
Spectral Type	G6II
Radial Velocity	25.02 km/s

Photometry

Band	Magnitude	Abs. Mag.
B	6.65	-1.71
V	5.62	-2.73
J	4.20	-4.16
H	3.58	-4.78
K	3.48	-4.87

Colour index B-V: +1.03

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 468.60 pc (1,528 light years) (13.1% margin of error)
Absolute visual magnitude: -2.73
Transverse velocity: 7.7 km/s
Space velocity relative to the Sun: 26.2 km/s
Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -424.0 pc, -187.5 pc, -68.3 pc
Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -19.6 km/s, -17.0 km/s, -3.5 km/s

Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.