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