Star profile
HIP 42923
Hot blue starWhat is HIP 42923
In the small Pyxis, the compass of the celestial navigator, burns a blue B-type sun whose light took 1,584 years to reach our skies. When it set out, the Roman Empire still ruled the Mediterranean and the earliest monasteries were copying manuscripts by candlelight. Far more massive and hotter than our Sun, it marks a heading with a bluish glow that seems to honour the craft of finding one's way through the unknown.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 42923 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 1° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 12° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 53° N.
It ranks no. 15 in brightness among the 18 stars of Pyxis in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Pyxidis, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,600 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 42923
- Constellation
- Pyxis
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.74
- Distance
- 1583.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 131.216° · Dec -37.147°
- Catalogue
- HIP 42923 · HD 74824
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 418175.42
- Epsilon Pyxidis5.59
- HIP 417235.61
- HIP 415155.75
- HIP 433705.86