Star profile
Alpha Caelum
What is Alpha Caelum
Alpha Caeli is the brightest light of its tiny constellation, the Chisel —one of the figures that French astronomer Lacaille carved into the southern sky in the eighteenth century to honour the instruments of the workshop. Just 66 light-years away, it is a double system: an F2V primary with a debris disc detected around it, and a small red dwarf companion that flares up in sudden bursts. The pair takes 1110 years to complete one orbit.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Caelum 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: 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 Alpha Caelum
- Constellation
- Caelum
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.44
- Distance
- 65.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 70.141° · Dec -41.864°
- Catalogue
- HIP 21770 · HD 29875
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Caelum
Caelum has 7 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
See all 7 stars in Caelum