Star profile
HIP 12444
What is HIP 12444
Just 71 light-years away, in the cetacean Whale that crosses the autumn sky, shines a yellow-white star of class F. Its light set out in 1955, when the first commercial computer was being unveiled in Europe and the information age first showed its face. Slightly hotter and brighter than the Sun, it lives in the immediate solar neighborhood. A close, almost familiar neighbor on a cosmic scale.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 12444 lies in the southern 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 culminates about 29° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 40° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 66° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 81° N.
It ranks no. 88 in brightness among the 111 stars of Cetus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Diphda, the brightest: it lies about 30° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 71 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 HIP 12444
- Constellation
- Cetus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.79
- Distance
- 71.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 40.052° · Dec -9.453°
- Catalogue
- HIP 12444 · HD 16673
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Cetus
Cetus has 111 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- DiphdaBeta Ceti2.04
- MenkarAlpha Ceti2.54
- Eta Ceti3.46
- HIP 3435.78
- HIP 87785.78
- 268 G. Cet5.79
- HIP 121485.81
- HIP 8735.84