Star profile
Kappa Leporis
Hot blue starWhat is Kappa Leporis
Kappa Leporis is a stellar pair some 728 light-years away, in the small constellation of the Hare crouched at Orion's feet. The primary is a blue-white B9 star, nearly five times the Sun's mass, with a surface temperature near 11,588 K and shining thirteen hundred times brighter than our own sun. Its much fainter companion traces a silent orbit around it on timescales counted in millennia.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa Leporis 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 26° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 36° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 69° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 77° N.
It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 45 stars of Lepus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Arneb, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 730 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Kappa Leporis
- Constellation
- Lepus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.36
- Distance
- 728.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 78.308° · Dec -12.941°
- Catalogue
- HIP 24327 · HD 33949
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Other stars in Lepus
Lepus has 45 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- ArnebAlpha Leporis2.58
- NihalBeta Leporis2.81
- Epsilon Leporis3.19
- Eta Leporis3.71
- Delta Leporis3.76
- Lambda Leporis4.29
- Iota Leporis4.45
- Theta Leporis4.67