Your Eyes In Space Open the simulation

Star · G8III

99 Tau

99 Tau is a giant star of spectral type G8III in the constellation Taurus, 587.4 light-years from the Sun.

Other namesHIP 23068
ConstellationTaurus
Distance587.4 light-years (180.1 pc)
Apparent magnitudemagnitude 5.79
Absolute magnitudemagnitude −0.49
Spectral typeG8III
Surface temperature4,500 K
Luminosity246 L☉
Radius25.9 R☉
Mass4.38 M☉ (estimated)
Right ascension (J2000)4h 57m 48.6s
Declination (J2000)+23° 56′ 55″
Space velocity (relative to the Sun)13.9 km/s

In the sky

Visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (apparent magnitude 5.79). Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 66° S. North of latitude 66° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.

Through a telescope from Earth

Light's journey

The light you see tonight set out around the year 1439. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 10 million years.

The Sun seen from there

From a planet around 99 Tau, the Sun would look like a star of magnitude 11.11, in the direction where our sky has the constellation Ophiuchus. It would be invisible to the naked eye.

Open in the simulation

Position, brightness and colour from the HYG / AT-HYG catalogue; temperature, luminosity, radius and mass are approximate values computed from these observations.