Star profile
53 Persei
Variable starWhat is 53 Persei
53 Persei is the prototype of an entire class of pulsators: the so-called «53 Persei stars» or slowly pulsating B-type stars, identified in 1985 by Waelkens and Rufener. Its surface does not swell and shrink as a whole, but ripples —different regions rise and fall at once— in non-radial pulsations with a 2.36-day period. The BRITE satellite later detected eight distinct frequencies in its light, as if the star were silently sounding chords from 507 light-years away.
Where it is and when to see it
53 Persei 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: 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 53 Persei
- Constellation
- Perseus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.80
- Distance
- 507.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 65.388° · Dec 46.499°
- Catalogue
- HIP 20354 · HD 27396
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Perseus
Perseus has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- MirfakAlpha Persei1.79
- AlgolBeta Persei2.09
- Zeta Persei2.84
- 52 Persei4.67
- Pi Persei4.68
- HIP 143824.77
- HIP 154164.85
- HIP 224534.89