Star profile
HIP 34912
Variable starWhat is HIP 34912
In Lynx, that constellation so faint only the keenest eyes —a lynx's— can pick it out, blinks a red variable M-type giant. Its light reaches us after 723 years of travel: it set out as Marco Polo was returning from Cathay and medieval kingdoms were reshaping Europe. Far cooler than the Sun yet vastly larger, it slowly oscillates in brightness, like an old heart pulsing in the darkness.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 34912 lies in the northern 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 never sets and culminates about 90° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
- From Sydney it culminates about 5° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 39° S.
It ranks no. 27 in brightness among the 60 stars of Lynx in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Lynx, the brightest: it lies about 29° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 720 years ago.
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Leave your signature on HIP 34912
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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 34912
- Constellation
- Lynx
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.46
- Distance
- 723.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 108.347° · Dec 51.429°
- Catalogue
- HIP 34912 · HD 54895
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Lynx
Lynx has 60 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
See all 60 stars in Lynx