
Star profile
12 Lacerta
Variable starWhat is 12 Lacerta
12 Lacertae has been under scrutiny for over a century: in 1912 W. S. Adams found its radial velocity shifting, and by 1919 its brightness was confirmed to vary too. It is now classified as a hybrid Beta Cephei pulsator, a jewel of asteroseismology, where astronomers «listen» to its oscillations to map its interior. A young, massive star —just 22 million years old— sitting 1,342 light-years away in the small constellation of the Lizard.
Where it is and when to see it
12 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 September: 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.
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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
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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 12 Lacerta
- Constellation
- Lacerta
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.25
- Distance
- 1342.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 340.369° · Dec 40.225°
- Catalogue
- HIP 112031 · HD 214993
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
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 1091025.09
- HIP 1117955.11
- 13 Lacerta5.11
- HIP 1133275.34
- HIP 1095215.38