Star profile
Piautos
Lambda Cancri · Cancer
Hot blue starWhat is Piautos
Piautos, a hot and luminous blue star, shines in the northern claw of the Crab, in a constellation that ancient Chinese astronomers identified with a wandering ghost trapped in the winter sky. It is far: 458 light-years, in a modest but ancient corner of the heavens. The faint light crossing the firmament tonight set out in the late sixteenth century, when Tycho Brahe was observing the supernova that would change astronomy forever.
Where it is and when to see it
Piautos 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 culminates about 63° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 73° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 32° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 66° S.
It ranks no. 41 in brightness among the 49 stars of Cancer in our catalogue. To find it, start from Tarf, the brightest: it lies about 15° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 460 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 Piautos
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.92
- Distance
- 457.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 125.134° · Dec 24.022°
- Catalogue
- HIP 40881 · HD 70011
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Cancer
Cancer has 49 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- TarfBeta Cancri3.53
- Asellus AustralisDelta Cancri3.94
- Iota Cancri4.03
- 50 Cancri5.89
- 66 Cancri5.89
- HIP 421725.91
- 36 Cancri5.92
- 20 Cancri5.94