Nestled in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici, which is Latin for “the Hunting Dogs,” the double star HD 120164 features an attractive orange giant paired with a dimmer yellow-white star. Observers can see this pair in the northern sky during the spring and early summer months.
The primary star is an orange giant with a magnitude of +5.5. It appears as a beautiful light orange and has the stellar classification of K0III. The secondary star is dimmer at magnitude +8.9 and shines a yellow-white with a stellar classification of F8V. The two stars are 71 arcseconds apart. This fairly large separation between the two allows those with smaller scopes to easily distinguish the stars, which make their celestial home 317 light years away from Earth.1
My Observations
What an impressive primary star, with its striking orange-yellow color shining through the darkness of the night. Although it’s dimmer, the secondary yellow-white star makes its presence known beside the nearby giant.
Tonight, my thoughts drift to William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who captured the iconic “Earthrise” photograph during his orbit around the moon in December 1968. Mr. Anders passed away earlier today in a plane crash at the age of 90, about 75 miles north of where I observe tonight. Thanks to individuals like Mr. Anders, future generations will be inspired to “look up” and appreciate the beauty of the universe. I believe he would have loved a clear, beautiful night like tonight.
| Date | June 7, 2024 |
| Time | 10:45 p.m. |
| Location | Seattle, WA |
| Magnification | 169x |
| Scope | Meade 8″ SCT |
| Eyepiece | 12mm |
| Seeing | Above Average |
| Transparency | Above Average |
Key Stats
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Best Viewing | Spring |
| Visual Magnitude | +5.6 | +8.9 |
| Distance from Earth | 317 ly |
| Separation | 71.3″ |
| Milky Way Location | Orion Spur |
| My Viewing Grade | B+ |
| Designations | SAO 63739, HR 5186, HIP 67250, BD+39 2680 |
Sources and Notes
The double star banner on this page is an artist’s impression showing the double star OGLE-LMC-CEP0227 in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. This media was created by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
1 Gruppo Astrofili Deep Space. (n.d.). STF 652 AB. Stelle Doppie. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.stelledoppie.it/index2.php?iddoppia=57946
Sketch by Wayne McGraw
The Garden Astronomer 