Star profile

Iota Cepheus

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Iota Cepheus

An orange giant in distant Cepheus, settled into the so-called red clump where helium burns quietly in its core after the long fires of youth. Eleven times wider than the Sun and nearly sixty times more luminous, its warm light has travelled 115 years to reach us from a circumpolar corner of the northern sky. It glows near the rough quadrangle that traces the silhouette of the Ethiopian king, claiming no spotlight — a steady ember in the polar dark.

Where it is and when to see it

Iota Cepheus 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 75° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 64° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 24° S.

It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 95 stars of Cepheus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alderamin, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 120 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on Iota Cepheus

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

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 Iota Cepheus

Constellation: Cepheus
Apparent magnitude: 3.50
Distance: 115.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 342.420° · Dec 66.200°
Catalogue: HIP 112724 · HD 216228

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