Star profile

Iota Cancri

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Iota Cancri

Iota Cancri is a yellow giant presiding over the body of the Crab, at just over three hundred light-years away. With a bluish companion it forms one of the loveliest double stars that a modest telescope can split, a gold-and-sapphire contrast often compared to Albireo. Its light set out for us while the first manuscripts of the European Enlightenment were being written.

Where it is and when to see it

Iota Cancri 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, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 67° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 78° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 27° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 61° S.

It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 49 stars of Cancer in our catalogue. To find it, start from Tarf, the brightest: it lies about 21° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 330 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Iota Cancri

Constellation: Cancer
Apparent magnitude: 4.03
Distance: 331.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 131.674° · Dec 28.760°
Catalogue: HIP 43103 · HD 74739

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.

See all 49 stars in Cancer