Star profile

HIP 31299

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

What is HIP 31299

In the modest Dove, a constellation drawn by Petrus Plancius in the 16th century, shines an orange giant 391 light-years away. Its light set out around 1634, when Galileo, by then blind and under arrest, was dictating his last dialogues on motion. K-type stars are bodies that have turned the page on their youth: they burn helium in the core and tint the night an ancient copper.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 31299 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is January, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 2° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 13° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 88° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 54° N.

It ranks no. 16 in brightness among the 45 stars of Columba in our catalogue. To find it, start from Phact, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 390 years ago.

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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 HIP 31299

Constellation: Columba
Apparent magnitude: 5.42
Distance: 391.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 98.456° · Dec -36.232°
Catalogue: HIP 31299 · HD 46815

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Columba

Columba has 45 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 45 stars in Columba