Star profile
76 Draco
Northern polar starWhat is 76 Draco
76 Draconis glows some 353 light-years away, a white A-type star inscribed in the spirals of the celestial Dragon, very close to the north celestial pole. Because of its latitude it never sets for European observers: it wheels in a circle around Polaris night after night. Its crystalline light set out around the seventeenth century, while Kepler was formulating the laws that govern the planets' dance, and has been travelling to our telescopes ever since.
Where it is and when to see it
76 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 December: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 76 Draco
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.75
- Distance
- 352.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 310.646° · Dec 82.531°
- Catalogue
- HIP 102208 · HD 199095
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.
- EltaninGamma Draco2.24
- AthebyneEta Draco2.73
- RastabanBeta Draco2.79
- HIP 759745.74
- 41 Draco5.74
- HIP 913155.74
- HIP 803755.75
- Alruba5.75