Star profile

Theta Grus

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Theta Grus

Theta Gruis is not one star but three: a magnetic F-type primary, similar to Delta Delphini, with a faint close companion and a Sun-like third star orbiting further out. It lies 132 light-years away in the southern Crane, and the main star spins at 64 km/s with twenty-seven times the Sun's luminosity. Three interlaced suns reduced to a single white point of light for the naked eye.

Where it is and when to see it

Theta Grus lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never rises above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 6° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 80° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 46° N.

It ranks no. 9 in brightness among the 39 stars of Grus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alnair, the brightest: it lies about 11° 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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Astronomical data for Theta Grus

Constellation: Grus
Apparent magnitude: 4.28
Distance: 131.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 346.720° · Dec -43.520°
Catalogue: HIP 114131 · HD 218227

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Other stars in Grus

Grus has 39 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 39 stars in Grus