Star profile
HIP 42712
Variable starWhat is HIP 42712
To stand watch among the sails: this bluish class B variable beats within Vela at a colossal distance, reckoned in hundreds of thousands of light years. Its pulse began so far back in time that no human record could frame it. It is one of those remote points the southern sky keeps as a reminder that most light we see is always an old story.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 42712 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: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 42712
- Constellation
- Vela
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.48
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 130.567° · Dec -48.099°
- Catalogue
- HIP 42712 · HD 74455
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Vela
Vela has 127 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma 2 Velorum1.75
- AlsephinaDelta Velorum1.93
- SuhailLambda Velorum2.23
- HIP 424595.45
- HIP 465945.45
- HIP 433255.47
- HIP 427155.49
- HIP 472675.51