Star profile

9 Aurigae

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is 9 Aurigae

9 Aurigae, designated V398 Aurigae, was among the first stars recognised as a Gamma Doradus variable, identified by Krisciunas and Guinan in 1990. It pulses with a 1.258-day period through non-radial oscillations that ripple across its surface, drifting gently between magnitudes 4.93 and 5.03. At just 86 light-years —a relatively close neighbour of the Sun—, it is also a multiple system, with a single-lined spectroscopic binary as its main component.

Where it is and when to see it

9 Aurigae 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: 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.

Find it on the sky map

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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

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

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 9 Aurigae

Constellation: Auriga
Apparent magnitude: 4.98
Distance: 85.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 76.669° · Dec 51.598°
Catalogue: HIP 23783 · HD 32537

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Auriga

Auriga has 76 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 76 stars in Auriga