Star profile

Rana

Delta Eridani · Eridanus

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Rana

Rana is a very close neighbour, just 29 light-years away, along the long meander of the celestial river Eridanus. Its name, Latin for «the frog», comes from Bayer's translation of an archaic Arabic astronomical term. It is an orange K-type giant, slightly variable, that has already exhausted the hydrogen in its core: a miniature preview of the fate awaiting the Sun in five billion years' time. The light visible tonight left it before the Berlin Wall came down.

Where it is and when to see it

Rana 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 29° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 40° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 66° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 80° N.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 129 stars of Eridanus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Achernar, the brightest: it lies about 53° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 30 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Rana

Constellation: Eridanus
Apparent magnitude: 3.52
Distance: 29.5 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 55.812° · Dec -9.763°
Catalogue: HIP 17378 · HD 23249

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Other stars in Eridanus

Eridanus has 129 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 129 stars in Eridanus