Star profile
Asellus Borealis
Gamma Cancri · Cancer
What is Asellus Borealis
Asellus Borealis, 'the northern donkey', and its southern counterpart flank the Beehive cluster in Cancer, forming with it one of the oldest figurative pairings recognised by both Greeks and Romans. The Latin tradition identified them with the two donkeys ridden by Dionysus and Silenus in the war between the gods and the Titans. It is a white A-type star about 181 light-years away — its light set out around 1845, in the heart of the European Industrial Revolution.
Where it is and when to see it
Asellus Borealis 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: 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.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
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
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 Asellus Borealis
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.66
- Distance
- 181.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 130.821° · Dec 21.469°
- Catalogue
- HIP 42806 · HD 74198
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
- AcubensAlpha Cancri4.26
- TegmineZeta 2 Cancri4.67
- Chi Cancri5.13
- HIP 413255.13
- 8 Cancri5.14