Star profile

Gamma 2 Fornax

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Gamma 2 Fornax

Gamma-2 Fornacis lies 459 light-years deep within Fornax, a constellation invented by Lacaille in the eighteenth century during his South African campaign to chart the southern skies. A white A-type star, it is a quiet member of a figure filled with faint magnitudes —in the very region of the sky that also hosts the famous Hubble Deep Field of Fornax.

Where it is and when to see it

Gamma 2 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, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 11° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 21° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 84° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 62° N.

It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 26 stars of Fornax in our catalogue. To find it, start from Dalim, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 460 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Gamma 2 Fornax

Constellation: Fornax
Apparent magnitude: 5.39
Distance: 458.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 42.476° · Dec -27.942°
Catalogue: HIP 13202 · HD 17729

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Other stars in Fornax

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

See all 26 stars in Fornax