Star profile
17 Eridani
Hot blue starWhat is 17 Eridani
17 Eridani lies along the winding course of Eridanus, one of the sky's longest constellations, snaking from the feet of Orion down toward the southern horizon. It is a blue B-type star with a fiercely hot surface and a brightness that keeps it visible to the unaided eye despite its distance of more than four hundred light-years. The photons reaching us tonight set out when Galileo had only just begun pointing his telescope at the night sky.
Where it is and when to see it
17 Eridani lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 33° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 44° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 61° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 85° N.
It ranks no. 39 in brightness among the 129 stars of Eridanus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Achernar, the brightest: it lies about 57° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 400 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 17 Eridani
- Constellation
- Eridanus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.74
- Distance
- 404.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 52.654° · Dec -5.075°
- Catalogue
- HIP 16341 · HD 21790
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Other stars in Eridanus
Eridanus has 129 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AchernarAlpha Eridani0.45
- CursaBeta Eridani2.78
- AcamarTheta 1 Eridani2.88
- Tau 9 Eridani4.62
- Tau 8 Eridani4.64
- HIP 124134.74
- AngetenarTau 2 Eridani4.76
- 64 Eridani4.78