Star profile
Kappa 1 Volans
Hot blue starWhat is Kappa 1 Volans
Kappa-1 Volantis is the brightest member of a southern quadruple system: a blue-white star with nearly three solar masses and an invisible companion betrayed only by tiny spectral shifts. It shines with 129 solar luminosities at a surface temperature close to 9,900 K. It lies 435 light-years away in Volans, the Flying Fish, a modern constellation drawn by sixteenth-century navigators under the southern sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa 1 Volans lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 52° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 18° N.
It ranks no. 11 in brightness among the 19 stars of Volans in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Volans, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 430 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 Kappa 1 Volans
- Constellation
- Volans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.33
- Distance
- 434.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 124.954° · Dec -71.515°
- Catalogue
- HIP 40817 · HD 71046
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Other stars in Volans
Volans has 19 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Volans3.77
- Gamma 2 Volans3.78
- Zeta Volans3.93
- HIP 336825.18
- Theta Volans5.19
- Eta Volans5.28
- HIP 434145.34
- Iota Volans5.41