Star profile
Alpha Volans
What is Alpha Volans
Alpha Volantis is the second light, not the first, of the southern Flying Fish, a constellation invented by 16th-century Dutch navigators crossing the southern hemisphere. She is a chemically peculiar Am star, her metal absorption lines unusually strong, betraying a quiet interior and a stratified atmosphere. She shines at 125 light-years, white and serene, contradicting the dramatic name of the fish that leapt above the waves.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Volans lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April: 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 Alpha Volans
- Constellation
- Volans
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.00
- Distance
- 124.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 135.612° · Dec -66.396°
- Catalogue
- HIP 44382 · HD 78045
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Volans
Volans has 19 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Volans3.77
- Gamma 2 Volans3.78
- Zeta Volans3.93
- Delta Volans3.97
- Epsilon Volans4.35
- HIP 406805.06
- HIP 336825.18
- Theta Volans5.19