HD 171296 (HIP 91137)

HD 171296 is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Sagittarius. At 553 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.86.

Sky position: RA 18h 35.4m, Dec -32° 53.4'

Common designations: HD 171296, Gaia DR3 6736618309320277376, HIP 91137

HD 171296 has the spectral type A0V. 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 V means it is a main-sequence (dwarf) star, still fusing hydrogen into helium in its core like the Sun.

How to find HD 171296 in the sky

HD 171296 lies in Sagittarius. With a declination of -32° 53.4', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 57° N. Observers poleward of latitude 57° 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 July, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.

Tabulated data for HD 171296

Astrometry and spectroscopy

Right Ascension (J2000)	278.86073334° (18h 35.4m)
Declination (J2000)	-32.89075714° (-32° 53.4')
Galactic Longitude	1.59738696°
Galactic Latitude	-11.27406501°
Proper motion RA	6.36 mas/yr
Proper motion Dec	4.32 mas/yr
Parallax	5.90 ± 0.03 mas
Spectral Type	A0V

Photometry

Band	Magnitude	Abs. Mag.
B	6.97	0.82
V	6.86	0.71
J	6.63	0.48
H	6.63	0.48
K	6.57	0.43

Colour index B-V: +0.11

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 169.45 pc (553 light years) (0.6% margin of error)
Absolute visual magnitude: 0.71
Transverse velocity: 6.2 km/s

Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.