Star profile

73 Draco

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is 73 Draco

73 Draconis is a peculiar variable of the Alpha² Canum Venaticorum type: its brightness and spectrum fluctuate with a period of about twenty days, ruled by an intense, tilted magnetic field that drags rare metals like europium across its surface. It is a white star, chemically and magnetically strange, set in the head of the Dragon. Its light takes nearly four centuries to reach us.

Where it is and when to see it

73 Draco lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 67° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 56° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 15° S.

It ranks no. 50 in brightness among the 122 stars of Draco in our catalogue. To find it, start from Eltanin, the brightest: it lies about 28° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 400 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on 73 Draco

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for 73 Draco

Constellation: Draco
Apparent magnitude: 5.18
Distance: 395.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 307.877° · Dec 74.955°
Catalogue: HIP 101260 · HD 196502

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Draco

Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 122 stars in Draco