Star profile

Lambda Octans

Southern polar star

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Lambda Octans

λ Octantis lives in the constellation that shelters the south celestial pole, where no bright polar star serves as a guide. It is a binary system about 400 light-years away: a yellowish G8-K0 giant swollen to thirteen times the Sun, joined by a peculiar Am-type companion. Though it does not mark the pole itself, it helps frame the constellation that wraps the southern axis of the sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Lambda Octans 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.

Find it on the sky map

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.

Write my signature

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 Lambda Octans

Constellation: Octans
Apparent magnitude: 5.27
Distance: 409.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 327.726° · Dec -82.719°
Catalogue: HIP 107843 · HD 206240

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

Other stars in Octans

Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 35 stars in Octans