Star profile
Beta Sculptor
Hot blue starWhat is Beta Sculptor
Beta Sculptoris is a hot blue-white type-B star sitting in one of the most modest constellations of the southern sky: the Sculptor's Workshop, sketched in the eighteenth century by the Abbé Lacaille during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. Its light crosses some 174 light-years, traversing a region of sky nearly empty of bright stars, where the Milky Way barely whispers.
Where it is and when to see it
Beta Sculptor 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 culminates about 1° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 11° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 52° N.
It ranks no. 2 in brightness among the 33 stars of Sculptor in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Sculptor, the brightest: it lies about 20° 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 Sculptor
- Constellation
- Sculptor
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.38
- Distance
- 174.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 353.243° · Dec -37.818°
- Catalogue
- HIP 116231 · HD 221507
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Sculptor
Sculptor has 33 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Sculptor4.30
- Gamma Sculptor4.41
- Delta Sculptor4.59
- Eta Sculptor4.86
- Zeta Sculptor5.04
- Iota Sculptor5.18
- Theta Sculptor5.24
- Pi Sculptor5.25