Star profile

HIP 108317

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is HIP 108317

Red, cool, vast and trembling: an M-class variable lost in the silhouette of Cepheus, 2,452 light years away. The light now grazing the atmosphere set out around the year 426, in the midst of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Its M class and slow variability sketch an aged supergiant that pulses unhurriedly, swelling and shrinking like a cosmic lung.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 108317 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 78° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 67° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 26° S.

It ranks no. 31 in brightness among the 95 stars of Cepheus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alderamin, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 2,500 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 108317

Constellation: Cepheus
Apparent magnitude: 5.11
Distance: 2452.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 329.163° · Dec 63.626°
Catalogue: HIP 108317 · HD 208816

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.

See all 95 stars in Cepheus