Star profile
Kappa 2 Volans
What is Kappa 2 Volans
Kappa-2 Volantis shines in the Flying Fish, a southern tropical constellation born of the first Dutch navigators' journeys through warm seas. It is a white A-type star about 419 light-years away, young and hot, with the polished tone characteristic of its spectral class. Its light set out during the Spanish Golden Age, when European astronomers still leaned on the geocentric model, and tonight crosses a southern sky whose modern constellations we owe in large part to those same maritime expeditions.
Where it is and when to see it
Kappa 2 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. 15 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 420 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 2 Volans
- Constellation
- Volans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.63
- Distance
- 418.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 125.002° · Dec -71.505°
- Catalogue
- HIP 40834 · HD 71066
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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 434145.34
- Iota Volans5.41
- HIP 414515.51
- Gamma 1 Volans5.68
- HIP 382105.78