Star profile
Mu Cepheus
Variable starWhat is Mu Cepheus
μ Cephei is the famous Garnet Star, so named by William Herschel in the 18th century for its deep red hue, akin to a precious stone. It is a colossal red supergiant —among the largest stars known in the Milky Way— and its brightness varies slowly over years, like a heartbeat in slow motion. Its glowing blush dominates the region of Cepheus and signals a stellar ending imminent on cosmic timescales.
Where it is and when to see it
Mu Cepheus lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 83° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 72° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 31° S.
It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 95 stars of Cepheus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alderamin, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 330,000 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Mu Cepheus
- Constellation
- Cepheus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.23
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 325.877° · Dec 58.780°
- Catalogue
- HIP 107259 · HD 206936
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Other stars in Cepheus
Cepheus has 95 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlderaminAlpha Cepheus2.45
- ErraiGamma Cepheus3.21
- AlfirkBeta Cepheus3.23
- Delta Cepheus4.07
- Epsilon Cepheus4.18
- Theta Cepheus4.21
- HIP 53724.24
- Nu Cepheus4.25