Star profile
HIP 42568
Variable starWhat is HIP 42568
A blue beacon in the constellation Carina, its light set out 1443 years ago, when the Byzantine Empire was reorganising under Justinian and Visigothic kingdoms consolidated Iberia. It is a variable —its glow breathes with a slow pulse that modern astronomers decode as inner vibrations of its atmosphere. A B-class star, far hotter and more massive than the Sun, able to illuminate vast volumes of the southern cosmos.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 42568 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March, 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 64° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 30° N.
It ranks no. 20 in brightness among the 124 stars of Carina in our catalogue. To find it, start from Canopus, the brightest: it lies about 20° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,400 years ago.
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Astronomical data for HIP 42568
- Constellation
- Carina
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.31
- Distance
- 1443.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 130.154° · Dec -59.761°
- Catalogue
- HIP 42568 · HD 74375
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Other stars in Carina
Carina has 124 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CanopusAlpha Carinae-0.62
- MiaplacidusBeta Carinae1.67
- AviorEpsilon Carinae1.86
- HIP 451013.96
- HIP 509543.99
- HIP 469744.08
- HIP 454964.34
- HIP 314074.35