Star profile
Gamma Camelopardalis
What is Gamma Camelopardalis
Gamma Camelopardalis spins on itself at more than 200 km/s at its equator, a speed so extreme it has deformed the star into a flattened sphere whose equatorial radius is 17% larger than its polar one. It is a white A2 subgiant with three and a half solar masses and nearly six solar radii, sitting at 359 light-years in the quiet Giraffe, a circumpolar constellation poor in bright stars.
Where it is and when to see it
Gamma Camelopardalis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 70° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 59° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 19° S.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 75 stars of Camelopardalis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Camelopardalis, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 360 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Gamma Camelopardalis
- Constellation
- Camelopardalis
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.59
- Distance
- 358.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 57.590° · Dec 71.332°
- Catalogue
- HIP 17959 · HD 23401
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Other stars in Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis has 75 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Camelopardalis4.03
- HIP 162284.21
- Alpha Camelopardalis4.26
- 7 Camelopardalis4.43
- HIP 162814.55
- HIP 336944.55
- HIP 155204.74
- HIP 299974.76