Star profile
Alpha Camelopardalis
Hot blue starWhat is Alpha Camelopardalis
Alpha Camelopardalis is a colossal blue supergiant, one of the most luminous stars known in the Milky Way, whose light takes thousands of years to reach us. It is also a famous runaway: it sweeps through space so fast that it pushes a glowing bow shock of gas ahead of itself, captured by the WISE space telescope. It long ago left the cluster where it was born and now crosses the Giraffe alone.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Camelopardalis 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 75° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 64° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 24° S.
It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 75 stars of Camelopardalis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Camelopardalis, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 330,000 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 Alpha Camelopardalis
- Constellation
- Camelopardalis
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.26
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 73.513° · Dec 66.343°
- Catalogue
- HIP 22783 · HD 30614
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Other stars in Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis has 75 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Camelopardalis4.03
- HIP 162284.21
- HIP 178844.39
- 7 Camelopardalis4.43
- HIP 162814.55
- HIP 336944.55
- Gamma Camelopardalis4.59
- HIP 155204.74