Star profile
Beta Horologium
What is Beta Horologium
Beta Horologii is a white A-type star in the small constellation of the Clock, sketched by Lacaille in the eighteenth century from his South African observatory. Some 295 light-years away, its crisp, cool light stands out in a quiet southern region far from the luminous bustle of the Milky Way. There the French abbé christened scientific instruments instead of mythological figures; the Clock, the Keel, the Microscope, the Telescope: this sober white sun shines, then, over a firmament of measuring tools encoded in Enlightenment script.
Where it is and when to see it
Beta Horologium lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September, 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 60° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 26° N.
It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 18 stars of Horologium in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Horologium, the brightest: it lies about 24° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 290 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 Beta Horologium
- Constellation
- Horologium
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.98
- Distance
- 294.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 44.699° · Dec -64.071°
- Catalogue
- HIP 13884 · HD 18866
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Other stars in Horologium
Horologium has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Horologium3.85
- Delta Horologium4.93
- Mu Horologium5.12
- Zeta Horologium5.21
- Nu Horologium5.25
- Eta Horologium5.30
- HIP 201615.33
- Lambda Horologium5.36