Star profile

Theta Octans

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Theta Octans

Theta Octantis is an orange giant 217 light-years away, in the constellation surrounding the south celestial pole — a region of sky no European navigator saw before the sixteenth century. There is no bright southern pole star here: only a mosaic of faint lights, and among them Theta Octantis traces a warm point near the very axis around which the whole firmament appears to turn.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it never rises above the horizon.
From New York it never rises above the horizon.
From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 47° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 13° N.

It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 35 stars of Octans in our catalogue. To find it, start from Nu Octans, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 220 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

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Leave your signature on Theta Octans

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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 Theta Octans

Constellation: Octans
Apparent magnitude: 4.78
Distance: 217.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 0.399° · Dec -77.066°
Catalogue: HIP 122 · HD 224889

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Octans

Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 35 stars in Octans