Star profile
HIP 21958
What is HIP 21958
In the modest Caelum, the celestial engraver's chisel, a K-type orange star shines about 642 light years away. Its light departed around 1384, while Europe was emerging painfully from the Black Death and the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula were accumulating centuries of Reconquista. Cooler than the Sun and bathed in an amber tone, it embodies the silence of stars that have begun to leave youth behind. The constellation, one of the smallest in the sky, was sketched by Lacaille in the eighteenth century as a tool for celestial workshops.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 21958 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 8° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 59° N.
It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 7 stars of Caelum in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Caelum, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 640 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 21958
- Constellation
- Caelum
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.66
- Distance
- 642.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 70.789° · Dec -30.766°
- Catalogue
- HIP 21958 · HD 30080
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