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Star · K4III

HIP 55588

HIP 55588 is a giant star of spectral type K4III in the constellation Centaurus, 534.9 light-years from the Sun.

ConstellationCentaurus
Distance534.9 light-years (164.0 pc)
Apparent magnitudemagnitude 5.00
Absolute magnitudemagnitude −1.07
Spectral typeK4III
Surface temperature3,850 K
Luminosity788 L☉
Radius63.2 R☉
Mass6.11 M☉ (estimated)
Right ascension (J2000)11h 23m 12.7s
Declination (J2000)−36° 09′ 53″
Space velocity (relative to the Sun)20.0 km/s

In the sky

Visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (apparent magnitude 5.00). Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 54° N. South of latitude 54° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in March, the best time to observe it.

Through a telescope from Earth

Light's journey

The light you see tonight set out around the year 1491. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 9.5 million years.

The Sun seen from there

From a planet around HIP 55588, the Sun would look like a star of magnitude 10.90, in the direction where our sky has the constellation Andromeda. 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.