Star profile
HIP 21479
Variable starWhat is HIP 21479
In the southern Goldfish pulses a restless red giant 178 light-years away, gleaming beside the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its light departed around 1847, when Lord Rosse had just charted spiral nebulae with his Leviathan telescope at Parsonstown. M-type variables are weary hearts: their cool atmosphere expands and contracts, tracing rhythms that last whole months.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 21479 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 62° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 28° N.
It ranks no. 17 in brightness among the 18 stars of Dorado in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Dorado, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 180 years ago.
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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 HIP 21479
- Constellation
- Dorado
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.59
- Distance
- 178.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 69.190° · Dec -62.077°
- Catalogue
- HIP 21479 · HD 29712
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Other stars in Dorado
Dorado has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Dorado3.30
- Beta Dorado3.76
- Gamma Dorado4.26
- Kappa Dorado5.28
- HIP 260015.34
- Pi 2 Dorado5.37
- Pi 1 Dorado5.56
- Eta 1 Dorado5.72