Kaus Borealis, an orange subgiant star in Sagittarius
Kaus Borealis is an orange subgiant star in the constellation Sagittarius. At 78 light years away, it is the 137th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.82.
Kaus Borealis (HIP 90496)
Kaus Borealis is an orange subgiant star in the constellation Sagittarius. At 78 light years away, it is the 137th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 2.82. The iron abundance of Kaus Borealis is -0.07 (85.1% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 48.4 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 18,200 and 25,500 light years from the center of the Galaxy. It will come closest to the Sun 432,000 years from now when it will brighten to magnitude 1.09 from a distance of 35 light years.
Sky position: RA 18h 28.0m, Dec -25° 25.2'
Common designations: Kaus Borealis, Lambda Sagittarii, 22 Sagittarii, HIP 90496, HD 169916, HR 6913, Gliese 713.1
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Brightest stars in Sagittarius:
(list all)
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 1 | 1.79 | Kaus Australis |
| 2 | 2.05 | Nunki |
| 3 | 2.60 | Ascella |
| 4 | 2.72 | Kaus Media |
5
| 2.82
) Kaus Borealis
| Rank | Mag. | Star |
| 6 | 2.88 | Albaldah |
| 7 | 2.98 | Nash |
| 8 | 3.10 | Eta Sagittarii |
| 9 | 3.17 | Phi Sagittarii |
| 10 | 3.32 | Tau Sagittarii |
| 11 | 3.52 | Xi-2 Sagittarii |
| 12 | 3.76 | Manubrij |
| 13 | 3.84 | Polis |
| 14 | 3.92 | Rho-1 Sagittarii |
| 15 | 3.96 | Arkab Prior |
| 16 | 3.96 | Rukbat |
| 17 | 4.12 | Iota Sagittarii |
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.
Galactic Orbit of Kaus Borealis
(compared to the Sun)
E
ccentricity: 16.6% vs. 16.0%Angle φ : -134.4°vs. 26.0°
Semi-major axis : 6,704 pc vs. 8,686 pc
Semi-minor axis: 6,611 pc vs. 8,574 pc
Focus-to-center
: 1,112 pcvs. 1,388 pcSemilatus rectum : 6,520 pc vs. 8,464 pc
Perigalacticon: 5,592 pc vs. 7,297 pc
Apogalacticon
: 7,816 pcvs. 10,074 pcSome Tabulated XHIP Data for Kaus Borealis
(see also: SIMBAD)
Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V
| Position | Proper Motion | |
| Right Ascension: | 276.99279012° ±0.14 mas | -45.40 ±0.30 mas/yr. |
| Declination: | -25.42124724° ±0.09 mas | -186.80 ±0.30 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Longitude: | 7.66074200° | -187.06 mas/yr. |
| Galactic Latitude: | -6.52165704° | -44.32 mas/yr. |
Parallax: 41.72 ± 0.16 mas
Spectrography
Spectral Type: K0IV 2006AJ....132..161G.
Radial Velocity: -43.20 ±0.80 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.
Iron Abundance [Fe/H]:
-0.07 ±0.03 dex
2007MNRAS.382..553L, 2007A&A...475.1003H, 1990ApJS...74.1075M, 1988A&A...190..148E.
Photometry
| band | magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
| U | ||
| B | 3.85 | 1.95 |
| V | 2.82 | 0.92 |
| R | ||
| I | 1.91 | 0.01 |
| J | 1.08 | -0.81 |
| H | 0.44 | -1.46 |
| K | 0.33 | -1.57 |
B-V: +1.03 V-I: +0.91
Derivations
Heliocentric distance: 23.97 pc (0.4% margin of error)
Galactocentric distance: 7,376 pc
Transverse velocity: 21.8 km/s
3D heliocentric position and motion:
|
toward: |
Galactic center | Galactic rotation | North Galactic Pole |
| Position ( X, Y, Z) | 23.6 pc | 3.2 pc | -2.7 pc |
| Velocity (U, V, W) | -40.3 km/s | -26.9 km/s | -0.1 km/s |