
Star profile
Psi Octans
What is Psi Octans
Psi Octantis is a peculiar yellow-white giant of class F0 IIp at 126 light-years, with 1.49 solar masses, 1.74 solar radii and nearly eight times the Sun's luminosity at 7,244 K. Its iron abundance reaches 91% of the Sun's, and its age sits around 1.4 billion years. It shines quietly near the southern celestial pole, in the small Octant, where so few naked-eye stars compete for attention.
Where it is and when to see it
Psi 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 46° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 12° N.
It ranks no. 16 in brightness among the 35 stars of Octans in our catalogue. To find it, start from Nu Octans, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 130 years ago.
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Leave your signature on Psi Octans
Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
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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 Psi Octans
- Constellation
- Octans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.49
- Distance
- 125.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 334.461° · Dec -77.512°
- Catalogue
- HIP 110078 · HD 210853
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Other stars in Octans
Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Nu Octans3.73
- Beta Octans4.13
- Delta Octans4.31
- Polaris AustralisSigma Octans5.45
- Iota Octans5.45
- Phi Octans5.47
- Tau Octans5.50
- Kappa Octans5.56