Star profile
HIP 109693
Northern polar starWhat is HIP 109693
Near the northern celestial pole, where ancient sailors once sought their bearing, shines a bluish star whose light crossed two hundred and fifty-six years of space. When it set out, the Age of Enlightenment was beginning to redraw Europe. It is a young, hot sun whose surface easily doubles the six thousand degrees of our own, with an unmistakable blue-white radiance. It belongs to that circumpolar neighbourhood which never sets for northern observers —a steady companion of the night.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 109693 lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 55° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 45° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 4° S.
It ranks no. 39 in brightness among the 95 stars of Cepheus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alderamin, the brightest: it lies about 24° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 260 years ago.
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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 HIP 109693
- Constellation
- Cepheus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.27
- Distance
- 256.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 333.293° · Dec 86.108°
- Catalogue
- HIP 109693 · HD 212710
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
- HIP 1138645.25
- 18 Cepheus5.26
- 20 Cepheus5.27
- HIP 1095925.37
- 7 Cepheus5.42