Sabik is a white star in the legs of Ophiuchus, the second-brightest of the figure and a close pair whose stars a telescope can only just split.
At a glance
| type | white star (class A) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 88.4 light-years (27.1 pc) |
| its light left it | 88.4 years ago |
| luminosity | 77.4 × the Sun |
| radius | 3.74 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 8,850 K |
| constellation | Ophiuchus (Serpent Bearer) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Sabik
Sabik, Eta Ophiuchi, is a white class A star, hotter and more luminous than the Sun. It is a binary of two similar stars in a close orbit, separable only in a good telescope.
The name comes from the Arabic for the one that goes before. In the figure it lies in the legs of the Serpent Bearer, close to where the Milky Way runs thick with stars towards Scorpius and Sagittarius.
What you see in the piece
It is one of the nearer stars of Ophiuchus; fly out and the Serpent Bearer’s legs come apart, with Sabik in front.
Questions
How far away is Sabik?
Sabik is 88.4 light-years (27.1 pc) from the Sun.