Star profile
Mahasim
Theta Aurigae · Auriga
Variable starWhat is Mahasim
Mahasim, white and slightly variable, shines at 165 light-years from the Earth in the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer. Its Arabic name refers to the wrist of the driver firmly holding the reins, one of those words that survived the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest in twelfth-century Toledo, when the Castilian kings still funded the translators of every available manuscript. Its light fluctuates very faintly, almost like a distant heartbeat, in slow cycles that barely alter what the human eye can perceive from any ordinary courtyard floor.
Where it is and when to see it
Mahasim 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.
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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.
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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 Mahasim
- Constellation
- Auriga
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.65
- Distance
- 165.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 89.930° · Dec 37.213°
- Catalogue
- HIP 28380 · HD 40312
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.
- CapellaAlpha Aurigae0.08
- HYG 1183600.96
- MenkalinanBeta Aurigae1.90
- HassalehIota Aurigae2.69
- AlmaazEpsilon Aurigae3.03
- HaedusEta Aurigae3.18
- SaclateniZeta Aurigae3.69
- Delta Aurigae3.72