Star profile

Kappa Reticulum

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Kappa Reticulum

Kappa Reticuli is one of the nearer stars in Reticulum, a small southern constellation Lacaille created as a tribute to the eyepiece reticle of the telescope. At only seventy light-years away, it is a yellow-white F-type subgiant accompanied by a small orange dwarf, twice as cool as the Sun, visible only through a telescope.

Where it is and when to see it

Kappa Reticulum 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 61° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 27° N.

It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 16 stars of Reticulum in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Reticulum, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 71 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Kappa Reticulum

Constellation: Reticulum
Apparent magnitude: 4.71
Distance: 70.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 52.343° · Dec -62.938°
Catalogue: HIP 16245 · HD 22001

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Other stars in Reticulum

Reticulum has 16 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 16 stars in Reticulum