Star profile
Delta Monocerotis
What is Delta Monocerotis
Delta Monocerotis traces a pale point in the Unicorn, that constellation invented in the seventeenth century to fill the void between Orion and Canis Major. A white A-type star nearly four hundred light-years away, young in cosmic terms, it rests in a corner of the sky untouched by ancient legends. Its light crosses the silhouette of the mythical animal with no classical witnesses.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta Monocerotis 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 38° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 49° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 57° above the horizon.
It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from nearly the whole planet.
It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 71 stars of Monoceros in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Monocerotis, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 380 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 Delta Monocerotis
- Constellation
- Monoceros
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.15
- Distance
- 384.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 107.966° · Dec -0.493°
- Catalogue
- HIP 34769 · HD 55185
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Monoceros
Monoceros has 71 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Monocerotis3.76
- Alpha Monocerotis3.94
- Gamma Monocerotis3.99
- Zeta Monocerotis4.36
- Epsilon Monocerotis4.39
- 13 Monocerotis4.47
- 18 Monocerotis4.48
- 15 Monocerotis4.66