# Sabik (Eta Ophiuchi)

Sabik (Eta Ophiuchi) is a star in the constellation Ophiuchus, magnitude 2.4.

**Two white stars on a wildly stretched orbit, swinging close together every 88 years.**

Sabik comes from the Arabic al-sābiq, “the preceding one” — though nobody is quite sure what it was meant to precede.

It is really two white [stars](https://astropilot.space/glossary/star), both still burning hydrogen in their cores: the brighter about 2.25 times the Sun’s mass, its partner about twice. They circle each other every 87.8 years on an extremely elongated orbit. At their farthest they are about twice as far apart as Neptune is from the Sun; at their closest they come within about twice the Earth–Sun distance.

Their last close pass came in 2024. Watched with the Very Large Telescope, it finally pinned down the orbit and the stars’ masses. The pair is thought to be about 500 million years old.

Sabik (Eta Ophiuchi) is 88 light-years away: the light we see from it set off in 1938, 8 years after Pluto was discovered.

## Did you know?

- **The state of Song.** In China it is the Eleventh Star of the Left Wall of the Heavenly Market Enclosure, standing for the ancient state of Song.
- **A ship’s name.** The US Navy cargo ship USS Sabik, of the Crater class, was named after the star.

A white 2nd-magnitude star in the southern part of Ophiuchus, north-east of Antares. It is the constellation’s second-brightest star after Rasalhague, the serpent-bearer’s head far to the north.

## When and where to see it

It is best placed in the evening sky around July, when it crosses the meridian at about 10 pm local time (around midnight in June). It can be seen from everywhere south of 74°N and never sets south of 74°S.

At its highest it stands 24° up from 50°N, 39° up from 35°N, 74° up from the equator, 71° up from 35°S.

## Facts

- Type: Star
- Constellation: Ophiuchus
- Designations: Eta Ophiuchi, η Oph, 35 Oph, HR 6378, HD 155125, HIP 84012
- Magnitude: 2.4
- Position: RA 17h 10.4m, Dec −15° 43′ (J2000)
- Spectral type: A2IV-V
- Colour: white (B−V 0.05)
- Distance: 88 light-years
- Discovered: Known since antiquity

Open AstroPilot to see when Sabik (Eta Ophiuchi) is highest tonight from your location, how easy it is with your telescope or binoculars, and an eyepiece view. https://astropilot.space/object/sabik