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public LocationGreenwich, United Kingdom
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:08 
Transit: 12:54 
Sunset: 20:42
sunny   (Daytime)   What's Visible Now?

ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis)

Altitude: -23.3°   Azimuth: 274.5°   Direction: West

ξ Serpentis is a variable and double hypergiant star in the constellation of Serpens.

ξ Serpentis visual magnitude is 3.54. Because of its moderate brightness, ξ Serpentis should be easily visible from locations with dark skies, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skies affected by light pollution.

The proper motion of ξ Serpentis is -0.042 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.058 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis) star
DSS2 image of ξ Serpentis. The red arrow shows the motion of ξ Serpentis during the next 10000 years (-7.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -9.67 arcmin in declination);

Key facts about ξ Serpentis

3.54
Hypergiant

ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.

Altitude: -23.3°
Azimuth: 274.5°
Direction: West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ξ Serpentis

ξ Serpentis is situated close to the celestial equator, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of ξ Serpentis are provided in the following table:

17h 37m 35s
-15° 23’ 54”
10.61°
8.66°
Serpens

The simplified sky map below shows the position of ξ Serpentis in the sky:

Finder chart ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis) star
Simplified finder chart for ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis).

Visibility of ξ Serpentis from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's ξ Serpentis (xi Serpentis) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 105.4°
Max altitude: 23.1°
Azimuth: 254.6°

Distance of ξ Serpentis from the Sun and relative movement

ξ Serpentis is distant 105.40 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 43 kilometers per second.

32.33 pc
105.40 ly
-43 km/s
-0.042 arcsec/year
-0.058 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ξ Serpentis

ξ Serpentis belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of IV corresponding to a hypergiant star.

0.99
F0IV
7726K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where ξ Serpentis is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of ξ Serpentis. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

ξ Serpentis star system properties

ξ Serpentis is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the ξ Serpentis double sysyem:

3.54
12.94
9.4
22 arcsec

Alternative designations of ξ Serpentis

ξ Serpentis
(xi Serpentis)
55 Serpentis
SAO160700
SAO160700