HR 3226, a white supergiant star in Puppis
HR 3226 is a white supergiant star in the constellation Puppis. At 4,484 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 4.75.
HR 3226 (HIP 40096)
HR 3226 is a white supergiant star in the constellation Puppis. At 4,484 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 4.75. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 49.7 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 8h 11.4m, Dec -42° 59.2'
Common designations: HR 3226, HD 68601, HIP 40096, Gaia DR3 5521252069013332736
HR 3226 has the spectral type A5Ib. 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 I marks it as a supergiant, among the most luminous and largest stars known.
How to find HR 3226 in the sky
HR 3226 lies in Puppis. With a declination of -42° 59.2', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 47° N. Observers poleward of latitude 47° S see it as circumpolar: it never sets. It is bright enough to see with the naked eye under dark skies. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around February, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.
Tabulated data for HR 3226
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 122.85788740° (8h 11.4m) |
| Declination (J2000) | -42.98727792° (-42° 59.2') |
| Galactic Longitude | 259.29470388° |
| Galactic Latitude | -5.06336933° |
| Proper motion RA | -5.43 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | 4.47 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 0.73 ± 0.11 mas |
| Spectral Type | A5Ib |
| Radial Velocity | 19.20 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| U | 5.00 | -5.69 |
| B | 4.93 | -5.76 |
| V | 4.75 | -5.94 |
| R | 4.51 | -6.18 |
| I | 4.29 | -6.40 |
| J | 4.16 | -6.53 |
| H | 4.20 | -6.49 |
| K | 4.00 | -6.69 |
Colour index B-V: +0.18
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 1,374.95 pc (4,484 light years) (15.0% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: -5.94
- Transverse velocity: 45.8 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 49.7 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -254.4 pc, -1345.7 pc, -121.3 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -46.2 km/s, -9.5 km/s, -15.5 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.