Star profile
Lambda Eridani
Variable starWhat is Lambda Eridani
Lambda Eridani flows at more than eight hundred light-years, a blue B-type star within the longest river in the sky —that celestial course winding from Orion down to the southern horizon. It is a Be variable: spinning so fast that hot material escapes its equator and forms a luminous disk around it. A current of light within an imagined river.
Where it is and when to see it
Lambda Eridani lies in the southern 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 culminates about 30° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 41° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 65° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 81° N.
It ranks no. 23 in brightness among the 129 stars of Eridanus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Achernar, the brightest: it lies about 63° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 810 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Lambda Eridani
- Constellation
- Eridanus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.25
- Distance
- 811.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 77.287° · Dec -8.754°
- Catalogue
- HIP 23972 · HD 33328
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Other stars in Eridanus
Eridanus has 129 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AchernarAlpha Eridani0.45
- CursaBeta Eridani2.78
- AcamarTheta 1 Eridani2.88
- HIP 178744.17
- Tau 6 Eridani4.22
- Kappa Eridani4.24
- 82 G. Eri4.26
- Tau 5 Eridani4.26