Star profile
16 Lacerta
Variable starWhat is 16 Lacerta
16 Lacertae —catalogued as EN Lacertae— is one of the classic prototypes of the Beta Cephei variables: a massive blue star that pulses several times a day from instabilities deep within. It belongs to a triple system, with the main binary eclipsing every 12.1 days, discovered in 1910 by Oliver J. Lee at Yerkes Observatory. Its light, after 1,274 years on the road, carries a seismic soundtrack that astronomers «listen to» through asteroseismology.
Where it is and when to see it
16 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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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 16 Lacerta
- Constellation
- Lacerta
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.60
- Distance
- 1274.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 344.098° · Dec 41.604°
- Catalogue
- HIP 113281 · HD 216916
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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 1095215.38
- HIP 1127315.43
- HIP 1097455.53
- HIP 1098315.72
- HIP 1113625.72