Star profile
HIP 41817
Hot blue starWhat is HIP 41817
In tiny Pyxis, the celestial sailor's compass, a blue B-type star shines 345 light years away. Its light set out around 1681, in the heart of the European scientific revolution, when Newton was already at work on his Principia. Far hotter and more massive than the Sun, it gives off that bluish-white blaze typical of young and vigorous stars. This modern constellation was sketched by Lacaille in the eighteenth century to accompany the Argo ships across the southern sky, and the star fits like a cold light at the heart of that small compass.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 41817 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 30° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 76° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 70° N.
It ranks no. 12 in brightness among the 18 stars of Pyxis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pyxidis, the brightest: it lies about 14° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 350 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 HIP 41817
- Constellation
- Pyxis
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.42
- Distance
- 345.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 127.879° · Dec -19.577°
- Catalogue
- HIP 41817 · HD 72310
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Pyxis
Pyxis has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Pyxidis3.68
- Beta Pyxidis3.97
- Gamma Pyxidis4.02
- HIP 424305.05
- HIP 433525.19
- Eta Pyxidis5.24
- Epsilon Pyxidis5.59
- HIP 417235.61