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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 85° up.
- From New York it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 10° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 44° S.
It ranks no. 31 in brightness among the 99 stars of Perseus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Mirfak, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 510 years ago.
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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
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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