COSMOS / CONSTELLATIONS / AUR
Auriga (Charioteer)
The Charioteer. IAU abbreviation Aur. One of the 48 classical constellations listed by Ptolemy in the Almagest in the 2nd century AD.
STAR CHART
KEY FACTS
- IAU abbreviation
- Aur
- Latin name / genitive
- Auriga / Aurigae
- Position
- Right ascension ≈ 5 h 55 m; declination +28° to +56°
- Visibility from Türkiye
- Visible in full from anywhere in Türkiye. When it crosses the meridian its centre stands about 88° above the horizon from Ankara.
- Best time to observe
- Best placed at 21:00 Türkiye time around 15 February.
- Number of stars
- 160 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in the catalogue; 26 brighter than 5 and 10 brighter than 4.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Where is Auriga tonight?
The lab opens for Ankara on today’s date. Drag the time slider through the night; the “Best night” button jumps to the date when the constellation is highest at 21:00 (around 15 February). Change the city to compare the view from elsewhere in Türkiye and around the world.
MYTH, HISTORY AND OBSERVING
A charioteer, often identified with Erichthonius, king of Athens. Capella, the sixth-brightest star in the sky, is a system of two close yellow giants. Lying in the winter Milky Way, the constellation holds the open clusters M36, M37 and M38, easy targets in binoculars.
BRIGHTEST STARS
| Star | Magnitude | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capella | 0.08 | 43 | G3III + G0III |
| Menkalinan | 1.90 | 81 | A2V |
| Mahasim | 2.65 | 166 | A0p |
| Hassaleh | 2.69 | 493 | K3IIvar |
| Almaaz | 3.03 | 2,132 | F0Ia |
| Haedus | 3.18 | 243 | B3V |
| Saclateni | 3.69 | 786 | K4II |
| δ Aur | 3.72 | 126 | K0III |
Magnitude: apparent brightness; the smaller the number, the brighter the star. Distances derive from parallax measurements and are uncertain for distant stars. Source: HYG v4.1 star catalogue (CC BY-SA 4.0).
SOURCES
Position, visibility and best observing time were computed approximately for this page from the catalogue stars (Ankara, 39.9° N). The 88 constellations were adopted by the IAU in 1922; their boundaries were drawn by Eugène Delporte in 1930.