Star profile

Delta Fornax

Hot blue star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Delta Fornax

Delta Fornacis is a blue giant spinning at 185 km/s within a little-celebrated constellation, Fornax, sketched by Lacaille in the eighteenth century. It shines with nearly thirteen hundred times the Sun's luminosity and, despite its distance, surfaces faintly to the human eye: a small blue ember lost in a quiet region of the southern sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Delta Fornax 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 7° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 17° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 88° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 58° N.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 26 stars of Fornax in our catalogue. To find it, start from Dalim, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 850 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on Delta Fornax

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

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 Delta Fornax

Constellation: Fornax
Apparent magnitude: 4.99
Distance: 847.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 55.562° · Dec -31.938°
Catalogue: HIP 17304 · HD 23227

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

Other stars in Fornax

Fornax has 26 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 26 stars in Fornax