Star profile
HIP 20271
Variable starWhat is HIP 20271
In the long, winding Eridanus burns a blue star at 790 light-years. Its light departed around the year 1236, when Ferdinand III was conquering Córdoba and medieval Christendom was reorganizing its southern frontier. It is a class B variable, hot and powerful, whose brightness shifts subtly due to atmospheric processes not yet fully understood. Its blue-white hue betrays a surface well above 10,000 K.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 20271 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 31° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 42° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 64° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 82° N.
It ranks no. 114 in brightness among the 129 stars of Eridanus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Achernar, the brightest: it lies about 59° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 790 years ago.
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Astronomical data for HIP 20271
- Constellation
- Eridanus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.85
- Distance
- 789.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 65.178° · Dec -7.592°
- Catalogue
- HIP 20271 · HD 27563
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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
- 6 Eridani5.82
- HIP 141105.84
- HIP 186065.85
- HIP 169895.86
- HIP 203415.86