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: 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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Write my signature

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 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