Nu Hydrae, an orange giant star in Hydra
Nu Hydrae is an orange giant star in the constellation Hydra. At 144 light years away, it is the 192nd brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.11.
Nu Hydrae (HIP 52943)
Nu Hydrae is an orange giant star in the constellation Hydra. At 144 light years away, it is the 192nd brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.11. The iron abundance of Nu Hydrae is -0.2 (63.1% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 45.9 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 24,100 and 72,200 light years from the center of the Galaxy.
Sky position: RA 10h 49.6m, Dec -16° 11.4'
Common designations: Nu Hydrae, HIP 52943, HD 93813
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Brightest stars in Hydra:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 1 | 1.99 | Alphard |
| 2 | 2.99 | Gamma Hydrae |
| 3 | 3.11 | Zeta Hydrae |
4
| 3.11
) Nu Hydrae
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 5 | 3.25 | Pi Hydrae |
| 6 | 3.38 | Epsilon Hydrae |
| 7 | 3.54 | Xi Hydrae |
| 8 | 3.61 | Lambda Hydrae |
| 9 | 3.83 | Mu Hydrae |
| 10 | 3.89 | Theta Hydrae |
| 11 | 3.90 | Iota Hydrae |
| 12 | 3.91 | C Hydrae |
| 13 | 4.11 | Upsilon-1 Hydrae |
| 14 | 4.14 | Delta Hydrae |
| 15 | 4.29 | Beta Hydrae |
| 16 | 4.30 | Eta Hydrae |
| 17 | 4.32 | 12 Hydrae |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Nu Hydrae
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 50.0% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : 6.4°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 14,764 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 12,789 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 7,377 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 11,079 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 7,388 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 22,141 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Nu Hydrae
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 162.40596684° ±0.16 mas | 93.35 ±0.17 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -16.19413227° ±0.13 mas | 198.88 ±0.19 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 265.05237136° | -36.41 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | 37.56017746° | 216.66 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 22.69 ± 0.23 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: K1.5III Hdel-0.5 1989ApJS...71..245K.
Radial Velocity: -1.10 ±0.80 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
-0.20 ±0.03 dex
2011A&A...525A..71W, 2007A&A...475.1003H, 1998A&A...338..623M, 1990ApJS...74.1075M.
Photometry
| band | magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
| U | ||
| B | 4.34 | 1.12 |
| V | 3.11 | -0.11 |
| R | ||
| I | 2.03 | -1.19 |
| J | 1.08 | -2.14 |
| H | 0.41 | -2.81 |
| K | 0.25 | -2.97 |
B-V: +1.23 V-I: +1.08
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 44.07 pc (1.0% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,403 pc
Transverse velocity: 45.9 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | -3.0 pc | -34.8 pc | 26.9 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -5.1 km/s | 29.0 km/s | 35.2 km/s |