HR 5171, a yellow supergiant star in Centaurus
HR 5171 is a yellow supergiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 13,264 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.80.
HR 5171 (HIP 67261)
HR 5171 is a yellow supergiant star in the constellation Centaurus. At 13,264 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.80. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 118.1 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 13h 47.2m, Dec -62° 35.4'
Common designations: V766 Centauri, HR 5171, HD 119796, HIP 67261, Gaia DR3 5865517646532509568
HR 5171 has the spectral type G8Ia+. 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 I marks it as a supergiant, among the most luminous and largest stars known.
How to find HR 5171 in the sky
HR 5171 lies in Centaurus. With a declination of -62° 35.4', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 27° N. Observers poleward of latitude 27° S see it as circumpolar: it never sets. It is just beyond naked-eye visibility; binoculars will show it easily. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around May, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.
Tabulated data for HR 5171
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 206.79526547° (13h 47.2m) |
| Declination (J2000) | -62.58970808° (-62° 35.4') |
| Galactic Longitude | 309.29757536° |
| Galactic Latitude | -0.40891952° |
| Proper motion RA | -5.65 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | -1.80 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 0.25 ± 0.05 mas |
| Spectral Type | G8Ia+ |
| Radial Velocity | -29.94 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| U | 10.24 | -2.81 |
| B | 9.05 | -4.00 |
| V | 6.80 | -6.25 |
| R | 4.74 | -8.31 |
| I | 3.54 | -9.51 |
| J | 2.12 | -10.92 |
| H | 1.46 | -11.58 |
| K | 1.11 | -11.93 |
Colour index B-V: +2.25
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 4,066.69 pc (13,264 light years) (20.9% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: -6.25
- Transverse velocity: 114.3 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 118.1 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): 2575.6 pc, -3147.0 pc, -29.0 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -107.1 km/s, -48.8 km/s, -10.3 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.