Star profile
Pi Aurigae
Variable starWhat is Pi Aurigae
Pi Aurigae is a variable red giant at 752 light-years, throbbing slowly high in the Charioteer. Its coppery hue betrays an aged star, its atmosphere so vast that the brightness shifts in long cycles while the star itself breathes. Every pulse we catch tonight actually happened more than seven centuries ago, well before Cervantes was born, while Arab astronomers were still refining their star catalogues by candlelight.
Where it is and when to see it
Pi 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.
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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
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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 Pi Aurigae
- Constellation
- Auriga
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.30
- Distance
- 751.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 89.984° · Dec 45.937°
- Catalogue
- HIP 28404 · HD 40239
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
- SaclateniZeta Aurigae3.69
- Delta Aurigae3.72
- Nu Aurigae3.97
- Kappa Aurigae4.32
- Tau Aurigae4.51