Schedar: how to find it and when to see it
Schedar ranks 69th of the 74 bright stars on our list, at magnitude 2.24, in the constellation Cassiopeia.
You can see it from anywhere north of 33° S, and it's highest in the evening sky in November.
Schedar at a glance
- Constellation
- Cassiopeia
- Magnitude
- 2.24
- Rank on our list
- 69 of 74
- Hemisphere
- Northern
- Right ascension
- 0 h 41 min
- Declination
- 56.5° north
- Visible from
- north of 33° S
- Never sets
- north of 33° N
- Best evening
- 16 November
- Name from
- Arabic
Where Schedar is in the sky
Schedar sits 56.5° north of the celestial equator, the line in the sky directly above Earth's equator, so it's in the northern half of the sky. Its right ascension is 0 h 41 min.
Right ascension works like longitude on the sky. It's counted in hours, and about one hour of it turns past you each hour of the night.
When and where to see Schedar
From the northern hemisphere
From 40° N, the latitude of New York, Madrid and Beijing, Schedar never sets: it circles the pole all night and climbs to 73° above the horizon in the north.
It's in the evening sky from July to April, and it's highest in the evening around 16 November, in autumn.
From the southern hemisphere
From 34° S, the latitude of Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires, Schedar never rises above the horizon. You need to be north of 33° S to see it.
How high Schedar climbs from each latitude
The evening is about 9 pm local time, or 10 pm in summer time, and later when the sky is still too bright. A star counts as in the evening sky when it's at least 10° above the horizon.
| Latitude | Visibility | Highest point | Evening sky |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60° N | Never sets | 87° in the south | All year |
| 50° N | Never sets | 83° in the north | All year |
| 40° N | Never sets | 73° in the north | Jul to Apr |
| 30° N | Rises and sets | 63° in the north | Aug to Mar |
| 20° N | Rises and sets | 53° in the north | Aug to Feb |
| Equator | Rises and sets | 33° in the north | Sept to Jan |
| 20° S | Rises and sets | 13° in the north | Nov |
| 34° S | Never rises | Below the horizon | None |
| 45° S | Never rises | Below the horizon | None |
What the name Schedar means
Schedar comes from the Arabic ṣadr, breast. It marks the breast of Queen Cassiopeia.
Keep the sky of a night that matters
Our star maps show the stars above any place, at the minute you choose, with the constellation lines drawn in. If Schedar was above the horizon that night, it's on your map, and we print it on museum-grade paper.
Questions about Schedar
Schedar is in Cassiopeia. It sits 56.5° north of the celestial equator, at a right ascension of 0 h 41 min.
Schedar is highest in the evening sky around 16 November. That's autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.
Yes, from anywhere north of 33° S. From 34° S, it never rises, so you need to be further north.
Schedar has a magnitude of 2.24, which ranks it 69th of the 74 bright stars on our list. Sirius looks about 30 times brighter.
Schedar comes from the Arabic ṣadr, breast. It marks the breast of Queen Cassiopeia.