Blue-white giant · Perseus

Atik

Also known as: ο Persei (ο Per), HIP 17448

mag 3.81,100 light-years

About

Atik (ο Persei) is a blue-white giant of magnitude 3.8 in Perseus, about 1,100 light-years away.

Atik is in the constellation Perseus.
Best evenings: around early January it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 48° S.

When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.

EyesVisible from the suburbs on a clear night, but lost in bright city skies.
Binoculars (10×50)A sharp point; binoculars bring out its colour and the fainter stars around it.
Telescope (6–8 inch)Still a point of light at any magnification — stars are too far away to show a disc. Low in the sky, bright stars twinkle and flash colours.

Stars look the same in any instrument: brighter and sharper, but never bigger.

Proper name	Atik
Designation	ο Persei (ο Per)
Hipparcos number	HIP 17448
Type	Blue-white giant
Spectral type	B1III
Colour	WhiteB−V colour index 0.02
Magnitude	3.8The smaller the number, the brighter.
Distance	1,100 light-yearsThe light you see left it around AD 900. Distances this large are uncertain by 10% or more.
Proper motion	0.013″ per year across the sky
Constellation	Perseus
Right ascension (J2000)	03h 44m 19.1s
Declination (J2000)	+32° 17′ 18″