Star profile

Phi Aurigae

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Phi Aurigae

Phi Aurigae is an orange-red giant with a radius thirty-five times the Sun's, an aged star whose surface breathes at barely 4,227 K. At 453 light-years inside the wide Charioteer, it also forms a visual double easily caught in binoculars. Its warm tone recalls glowing coal —the colour of a star no longer fusing hydrogen the way it did in its youth.

Where it is and when to see it

Phi 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 Phi Aurigae

Constellation: Auriga
Apparent magnitude: 5.08
Distance: 453.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 81.912° · Dec 34.476°
Catalogue: HIP 25541 · HD 35620

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