The Constellation Andromeda

A General View (the star upsAnd is labeled)

The constellation Andromeda is a autumn constellation, visible in the Northern Hemisphere from June through February. The stellar coordinates of the star Upsilon Andromedae are 01:37 right ascension, and +41:24 degress in declination. The star, similar to our own Sun, is bright enought to be seen with the unaided eye on a clear, dark night. It is also fairly close by, in astronomical terms, at a distance of 44 light years (a light year is the distance light travels in one year, or 5.9 trillion miles).


The Constellation Andromeda

A Detailed View (the star upsAnd is labeled)

The Constellation Andromeda

Bright stars in each constellation are named by a letter from the greek alphabet according to their apparent brightness.


An image of the star Upsilon Andromedae

(click on the image for a wider field view)

The newly discovered planets are not able to be seen, because of the overpowering brightness of the star and the proximity of the planets to it. There is no current technology which would allow us to image these planets. Perhaps in the coming years that will change.

the star Upsilon Andromedae

or click here for an insanely large image (2.5MB!).

Images of the star upsAnd are from the Digital Sky Survey (DSS) and/or Aladin/Simbad.



The physical parameters of the star ups Andromedae are (from the scientific literature):
R.A.:  01:36:48.527
Dec.:  +41:24:38.71 (2000.0)
Vis Mag.:  4.09
aka:  HD9826, HR458, HIP7513
Spectral Type:  F8 V
T(eff):  ~ 6100 K
Parallax:  ~ 74.25 mas
Distance:  ~ 43.93 light years (13.5 pc)
Luminosity:  ~ 3.0 Lsun
Age:  ~ 2.6 Gyr
Mass:  ~ 1.3 Msun
P(rotation):  < 12 days

AFOE Logo There is more on the AFOE's planet detection program.
___________________________________________

Adam Contos  (acontos@cfa.harvard.edu)
Last modified: Thu Apr 15 13:46:58 1999