Star profile
Zeta Hydrus
What is Zeta Hydrus
Zeta Hydri shines some 284 light-years away in the small male Hydrus, a discreet near-pole constellation drawn by Bayer and Keyser in 1603. It is a white A-type star, hotter than the Sun, whose light has been travelling for nearly three centuries before sketching one of the vertices of this minor southern figure.
Where it is and when to see it
Zeta Hydrus 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 never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 56° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 22° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 20 stars of Hydrus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Hydrus, the brightest: it lies about 14° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 280 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 Zeta Hydrus
- Constellation
- Hydrus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.83
- Distance
- 284.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 41.386° · Dec -67.617°
- Catalogue
- HIP 12876 · HD 17566
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Other stars in Hydrus
Hydrus has 20 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Hydrus2.82
- Alpha Hydrus2.86
- Gamma Hydrus3.26
- Epsilon Hydrus4.12
- Eta 2 Hydrus4.68
- Nu Hydrus4.76
- Lambda Hydrus5.09
- Mu Hydrus5.27