Blue-white main-sequence star · Cancer

Piautos

Also known as: λ Cancri (λ Cnc), HIP 40881

mag 5.9460 light-years

About

Piautos (λ Cancri) is a blue-white main-sequence star of magnitude 5.9 in Cancer, about 460 light-years away.

Piautos is in the constellation Cancer.
Best evenings: around mid-March 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 56° 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.

EyesNeeds a dark sky away from city lights.
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	Piautos
Designation	λ Cancri (λ Cnc)
Hipparcos number	HIP 40881
Type	Blue-white main-sequence star
Spectral type	B9.5V
Colour	WhiteB−V colour index −0.04
Magnitude	5.9The smaller the number, the brighter.
Distance	460 light-yearsThe light you see left it around 1570.
Proper motion	0.027″ per year across the sky
Constellation	Cancer
Right ascension (J2000)	08h 20m 32.1s
Declination (J2000)	+24° 01′ 20″