Star profile
HIP 16339
Variable starWhat is HIP 16339
Horologium is the pendulum clock that Lacaille traced in the 18th century while mapping the southern sky, a modern and sparsely populated constellation. There shines this white A-type variable, whose brightness shifts to a rhythm still catalogued by modern photometric networks. Its light left the star around 1633, when Galileo was being condemned by the Inquisition for defending the heliocentric system.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 16339 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 never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 2° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 77° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 43° N.
It ranks no. 18 in brightness among the 18 stars of Horologium in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Horologium, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 390 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 HIP 16339
- Constellation
- Horologium
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.98
- Distance
- 392.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 52.654° · Dec -47.375°
- Catalogue
- HIP 16339 · HD 21981
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Horologium
Horologium has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Horologium3.85
- Delta Horologium4.93
- Beta Horologium4.98
- HIP 175345.72
- Gamma Horologium5.73
- HIP 108715.81
- HIP 153055.84
- HIP 181995.93