HD 41794 (HIP 28985)

HD 41794 is a white bright giant star in the constellation Monoceros. At 235 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.58. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 16.1 km/s relative to the Sun.

Sky position: RA 6h 7.0m, Dec -6° 12.2'

Common designations: HD 41794, HIP 28985, Gaia DR3 3020016669479810560

HD 41794 has the spectral type A2/3II. A-type stars are white stars with surface temperatures of roughly 7,500 to 10,000 K. Their spectra are dominated by strong hydrogen lines, and many of them rotate rapidly. Its luminosity class II marks it as a bright giant, more luminous than ordinary giants.

How to find HD 41794 in the sky

HD 41794 lies in Monoceros. With a declination of -6° 12.2', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 84° N. It is just beyond naked-eye visibility; binoculars will show it easily. 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 HD 41794

Astrometry and spectroscopy

Right Ascension (J2000)	91.74398235° (6h 7.0m)
Declination (J2000)	-6.20271227° (-6° 12.2')
Galactic Longitude	213.44682580°
Galactic Latitude	-12.69971848°
Proper motion RA	-8.28 mas/yr
Proper motion Dec	-31.12 mas/yr
Parallax	13.88 ± 0.03 mas
Spectral Type	A2/3II
Radial Velocity	-11.73 km/s

Photometry

Band	Magnitude	Abs. Mag.
B	6.78	2.49
V	6.58	2.29
J	6.21	1.92
H	6.19	1.90
K	6.13	1.84

Colour index B-V: +0.20

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 72.02 pc (235 light years) (0.2% margin of error)
Absolute visual magnitude: 2.29
Transverse velocity: 11.0 km/s
Space velocity relative to the Sun: 16.1 km/s
Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -58.6 pc, -38.7 pc, -15.8 pc
Galactic velocity (U, V, W): 15.4 km/s, 0.3 km/s, -4.5 km/s

Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.