Star profile
Kappa Andromedae
Hot blue starWhat is Kappa Andromedae
Kappa Andromedae is a blue B-type star about 168 light-years away, young and spinning at dizzying speed. In 2012 it entered modern observational history when telescopes directly imaged a giant planetary-mass companion orbiting it, now known as Kappa Andromedae b. It stands among the rare bright stars around which a distant world has been captured in a real photograph, rather than inferred from indirect signals.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa Andromedae 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 83° up.
- From New York it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 12° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 46° S.
It ranks no. 11 in brightness among the 81 stars of Andromeda in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpheratz, the brightest: it lies about 16° 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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Astronomical data for Kappa Andromedae
- Constellation
- Andromeda
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.15
- Distance
- 168.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 355.102° · Dec 44.334°
- Catalogue
- HIP 116805 · HD 222439
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Other stars in Andromeda
Andromeda has 81 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- MirachBeta Andromedae2.07
- AlpheratzAlpha Andromedae2.07
- AlmachGamma 1 Andromedae2.10
- Mu Andromedae3.86
- Zeta Andromedae4.08
- TitawinUpsilon Andromedae4.10
- Phi Andromedae4.26
- Iota Andromedae4.29