Star profile

Beta Fornax

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Beta Fornax

Beta Fornacis lights the small constellation of the Furnace, invented by Lacaille in the eighteenth century during his great mapping of the southern sky from the Cape of Good Hope. It is a yellow G-type giant some 173 light-years away, an aged successor to the solar model that has long left behind the quiet burning of hydrogen. In a sky region nearly empty of bright stars, its golden tone serves as a humble pilot light.

Where it is and when to see it

Beta Fornax 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: 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.

Find it on the sky map

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The signature wall

Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

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 Beta Fornax

Constellation: Fornax
Apparent magnitude: 4.45
Distance: 172.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 42.273° · Dec -32.406°
Catalogue: HIP 13147 · HD 17652

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

Other stars in Fornax

Fornax has 26 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 26 stars in Fornax