Star profile
40 Tauri
Variable starWhat is 40 Tauri
40 Tauri is in fact a double system of spectroscopic twins, both B stars in slow pulsation. Their mutual orbit takes about nine years; meanwhile one rotates every 6 days and the other in barely 1.2. Eleven distinct pulsation frequencies have been identified between them, vibrating in perfect counterpoint 641 light-years away. The light arriving tonight left when Newton was publishing his Principia.
Where it is and when to see it
40 Tauri lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 40 Tauri
- Constellation
- Taurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.32
- Distance
- 640.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 60.936° · Dec 5.436°
- Catalogue
- HIP 18957 · HD 25558
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Taurus
Taurus has 144 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AldebaranAlpha Tauri0.87
- ElnathBeta Tauri1.65
- AlcyoneEta Tauri2.85
- 106 Tauri5.28
- 133 Tauri5.28
- 46 Tauri5.29
- HIP 215155.32
- 29 Tauri5.34