Star profile

HIP 2381

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is HIP 2381

In the dark waters of Cetus floats a white type-A star, hotter and more luminous than the Sun, with a clear, untrembling glow. Its light set out 173 years ago, when the first passenger railway between Madrid and Aranjuez was inaugurated and steam imposed itself as the new power of the century. It has ridden the void for generations to peer down, cool and serene, from a constellation that evokes the sea monster of the ancients.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 2381 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 15° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 26° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 80° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 66° N.

It ranks no. 35 in brightness among the 111 stars of Cetus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Diphda, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 170 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 2381

Constellation: Cetus
Apparent magnitude: 5.17
Distance: 173.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 7.594° · Dec -23.788°
Catalogue: HIP 2381 · HD 2696

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

Other stars in Cetus

Cetus has 111 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 111 stars in Cetus