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Stars in Scorpius

Epsilon Scorpii, an orange giant star in Scorpius

Epsilon Scorpii is an orange giant star in the constellation Scorpius. At 64 light years away, it is the 78th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.29.

Ashland Astronomy Studio Star

Epsilon Scorpii (HIP 82396)

Epsilon Scorpii is an orange giant star in the constellation Scorpius. At 64 light years away, it is the 78th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.29. The iron abundance of Epsilon Scorpii is -0.08 (83.2% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 61.7 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 13,000 and 24,100 light years from the center of the Galaxy.

Sky position: RA 16h 50.2m, Dec -34° 17.4'

Common designations: Epsilon Scorpii, 26 Scorpii, HIP 82396, HD 151680, HR 6241, Gliese 639.1

Learn how to find naked-eye stars with:

Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Deluxe Astronomy Poster Brightest stars in Scorpius:
(list all)

RankMag.Star
11.06Antares
21.62Shaula
31.86Sargas
42.29Dschubba

5

| 2.29

) Epsilon Scorpii

RankMag.Star
62.39Kappa Scorpii
72.56Graffias
82.70Lesath
92.82Alniyat
102.89Pi Scorpii
112.90Alniyat
122.99Iota-1 Scorpii
133.00Mu-1 Scorpii
143.19G Scorpii
153.32Eta Scorpii
163.56Mu-2 Scorpii
173.62Grafias
Location of Epsilon Scorpii circled Map detail from Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.

Galactic Orbit of Epsilon Scorpii

(compared to the Sun)

E

ccentricity: 30.0% vs. 16.0%

Angle φ : -178.2°vs. 26.0°

Semi-major axis : 5,678 pc vs. 8,686 pc

Semi-minor axis: 5,416 pc vs. 8,574 pc

Focus-to-center

: 1,705 pcvs. 1,388 pc

Semilatus rectum : 5,166 pc vs. 8,464 pc

Perigalacticon: 3,973 pc vs. 7,297 pc

Apogalacticon

: 7,383 pcvs. 10,074 pc
  Some Tabulated XHIP Data for Epsilon Scorpii
(see also: SIMBAD)

Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V

Position Proper Motion
Right Ascension: 252.54268726° ±0.19 mas -614.66 ±0.20 mas/yr.
Declination: -34.29260943° ±0.12 mas -255.95 ±0.13 mas/yr.
Galactic Longitude: 348.81251426° -587.62 mas/yr.
Galactic Latitude: 6.56014600° 313.08 mas/yr.

Parallax: 51.19 ± 0.22 mas

Spectrography

Spectral Type: K1III 2006AJ....132..161G.

Radial Velocity: -2.50 ±0.50 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.

Iron Abundance [Fe/H]: -0.08 dex  1990ApJS...74.1075M.
 


Photometry
 
band magnitude Abs. Mag.
U
B 3.43 1.98
V 2.29 0.84
R
I 1.19 -0.26
J 0.42 -1.03
H -0.25 -1.70
K -0.39 -1.85

B-V: +1.14 V-I: +1.10

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 19.53 pc (0.4% margin of error)

Galactocentric distance: 7,381 pc

Transverse velocity: 61.7 km/s

3D heliocentric position and motion:

toward:   

Galactic center Galactic rotation North Galactic Pole
Position ( X, Y, Z) 19.0 pc -3.8 pc 2.2 pc
Velocity (U, V, W) -16.2 km/s -52.3 km/s 28.5 km/s

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