Star profile
3 Aquarii
Variable starWhat is 3 Aquarii
3 Aquarii is a cool, swollen M-type red giant whose brightness drifts slowly across the months —a stellar respiration that astronomers tag as variability. Its reddish light travels close to five hundred and eighty-six years before reaching the figure of Aquarius, the water-bearer. When those photons set out, the first European books were still being pressed from movable type.
Where it is and when to see it
3 Aquarii lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August: 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 3 Aquarii
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.43
- Distance
- 585.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 311.934° · Dec -5.028°
- Catalogue
- HIP 102624 · HD 198026
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Aquarius
Aquarius has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- SadalsuudBeta Aquarii2.90
- SadalmelikAlpha Aquarii2.95
- SkatDelta Aquarii3.27
- Iota Aquarii4.29
- 99 Aquarii4.38
- Psi 2 Aquarii4.41
- 86 Aquarii4.48
- Omega 2 Aquarii4.49