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Star profile

HIP 16281

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

What is HIP 16281

When this white light left Camelopardalis some 2,509 years ago, Greek city-states were polishing Solon's laws and Babylon was falling to Cyrus the Great. It belongs to the bright, hot A-type stars, and its glow rises and falls slightly —it is variable—, as though it were breathing. It crosses a region where the celestial giraffe barely outlines its silhouette, almost a secret of the northern sky.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 16281 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.

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.

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 HIP 16281

Constellation
Camelopardalis
Apparent magnitude
4.55
Distance
2509.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 52.478° · Dec 58.879°
Catalogue
HIP 16281 · HD 21389

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

Other stars in Camelopardalis

Camelopardalis has 75 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 75 stars in Camelopardalis