Star profile
Errai
Gamma Cepheus · Cepheus
Nearby starWhat is Errai
Errai is a bright neighbour just 46 light-years away, an orange K-type giant in the constellation of Cepheus. Owing to Earth's slow axial wobble, in some two thousand years it will take over from Polaris as the pole star of the northern hemisphere: future stellar compasses will seek it instead. Its Arabic name, «Ar-Rā‘ī», means «the shepherd», and it keeps watch from the circumpolar sky while around it a small retinue of stars sketches the crowned head of the Ethiopian king.
Where it is and when to see it
Errai lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November: 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 Errai
- Constellation
- Cepheus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.21
- Distance
- 46.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 354.837° · Dec 77.632°
- Catalogue
- HIP 116727 · HD 222404
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Other stars in Cepheus
Cepheus has 95 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlderaminAlpha Cepheus2.45
- AlfirkBeta Cepheus3.23
- Zeta Cepheus3.39
- Eta Cepheus3.41
- Iota Cepheus3.50
- Delta Cepheus4.07
- Epsilon Cepheus4.18
- Theta Cepheus4.21