Is this a legitimate star location??

Question

12h 31m 42.09s 56.41' 4.12" Thats all I have for location and I was wondering if it is real. also does anyone know where i could get a free online star chart?

Answer 1

I assume you mean the coordinates are Right Ascension 12h 31m 42.09s Declination 56° 41' 04.12". I've had a look at the Sky option on Google Earth and I can't see anything at that position. Starry Night Enthusiast (which is a program I run on my computer) doesn't show anything either. Some declinations can be negative so make sure there isn't a (-) sign in front of the declination coordinate you've been given.

Answer 2

Assuming the declination reads 0 degrees, 56.41 minutes, etc, it's a nondescript spot near the head of Virgo.

Try these, depending on what you want to do:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing...

Sign up and enter your nearest city

http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/#Skymap

More detailed, and this starting page also has fields for entering co-ordinates .

Or download "Stellarium".

Answer 3

Download GoogleEarth. The latest version has a sky viewer. You just click on the little icon of Saturn at the top and it will show you the sky. Then you can put this location into the search box and it will show you that part of the sky.