Star profile
Sceptrum
53 Eridani · Eridanus
What is Sceptrum
Sceptrum takes its name from the «Sceptrum Brandenburgicum», a short-lived eighteenth-century constellation drawn by Gottfried Kirch over the river Eridanus to honour the house of Brandenburg, long since reabsorbed into it and forgotten by modern celestial maps. It is an orange giant 110 light-years away, calm and golden, one of those quiet stars that outlived the constellation that once contained them. The light we perceive tonight set out at roughly the moment Marconi's radiotelegraph first crossed the Atlantic to Newfoundland.
Where it is and when to see it
Sceptrum 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 24° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 35° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 70° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 76° N.
It ranks no. 12 in brightness among the 129 stars of Eridanus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Achernar, the brightest: it lies about 55° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 110 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Sceptrum
- Constellation
- Eridanus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.86
- Distance
- 109.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 69.545° · Dec -14.304°
- Catalogue
- HIP 21594 · HD 29503
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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
- Tau 4 Eridani3.70
- RanEpsilon Eridani3.72
- TheeminUpsilon 2 Eridani3.81
- AzhaEta Eridani3.89
- Nu Eridani3.93