Star profile
Beta Lacerta
What is Beta Lacerta
Beta Lacertae is one of the brightest stars in the Lizard, that subtle figure winding between Cygnus and Andromeda. It is a yellow G-type giant 170 light-years away, an older sibling of the Sun that has left its prime behind and is slowly expanding. Its warm light crosses a region of the sky often overshadowed by neighbouring constellations, yet amateur observers know well this little zigzag trail that Hevelius added to the heavens in the seventeenth century from previously scattered stars.
Where it is and when to see it
Beta Lacerta 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 89° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 78° up.
- From Sydney it culminates about 4° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 38° S.
It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 36 stars of Lacerta in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Lacerta, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 170 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 Beta Lacerta
- Constellation
- Lacerta
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.42
- Distance
- 170.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 335.890° · Dec 52.229°
- Catalogue
- HIP 110538 · HD 212496
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Other stars in Lacerta
Lacerta has 36 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Lacerta3.76
- 1 Lacerta4.14
- 5 Lacerta4.34
- HIP 1097544.50
- 11 Lacerta4.50
- 6 Lacerta4.52
- 2 Lacerta4.55
- 4 Lacerta4.55