
Star profile
HIP 39970
Variable starWhat is HIP 39970
In Vela, legacy of the old ship Argo, a variable blue B-type star throbs about 1106 light-years away. Its light was born around the year 920, when the caliphs of Córdoba patronised Andalusi astronomers and al-Andalus measured the heavens. Its bluish hue betrays a temperature far above the Sun's —the concentrated fire of young stars—.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 39970 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February: 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 HIP 39970
- Constellation
- Vela
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.23
- Distance
- 1105.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 122.430° · Dec -47.937°
- Catalogue
- HIP 39970 · HD 68324
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Vela
Vela has 127 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma 2 Velorum1.75
- AlsephinaDelta Velorum1.93
- SuhailLambda Velorum2.23
- HIP 399615.20
- HIP 425405.20
- HIP 426795.20
- HIP 443375.23
- HIP 453445.24