Star profile

Menkar

Alpha Ceti · Cetus

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is Menkar

Menkar, Arabic for «the nose», locates the head of Cetus, the sea monster that in Greek myth nearly devours Andromeda chained to the rock. It is a variable red giant 249 light-years from the Earth, its cool glow drifting slowly in brightness without any casual observer ever noticing the change with the unaided eye. To the Greeks of antiquity it marked where the safe waters of the Mediterranean ended and the outer reaches of the deep sea began, that territory from which the ships venturing too far almost never came back.

Where it is and when to see it

Menkar lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November: 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.

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The signature wall

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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 Menkar

Constellation: Cetus
Apparent magnitude: 2.54
Distance: 249.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 45.570° · Dec 4.090°
Catalogue: HIP 14135 · HD 18884

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.

See all 111 stars in Cetus