Star profile
Iota Microscopium
What is Iota Microscopium
Iota Microscopii is a yellow-white type-F star inhabiting the Microscope, one of the dimmest constellations of the southern sky, drawn by Lacaille in tribute to the instruments of the laboratory. Its distance, around 116 light-years, makes it a relatively close neighbour whose light set out for us just as the cinematograph was beginning to spread across Europe.
Where it is and when to see it
Iota Microscopium lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July: 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.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
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
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 Iota Microscopium
- Constellation
- Microscopium
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.11
- Distance
- 115.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 312.121° · Dec -43.989°
- Catalogue
- HIP 102693 · HD 197937
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Microscopium
Microscopium has 23 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma Microscopium4.67
- Epsilon Microscopium4.71
- Theta 1 Microscopium4.80
- Alpha Microscopium4.89
- Nu Microscopium5.12
- HIP 1041745.20
- HIP 1047385.25
- Zeta Microscopium5.32