Star profile
Alpha Lynx
Cool red starWhat is Alpha Lynx
Alpha Lyncis is the only star of Lynx the Greek alphabet bothered to label; the rest of the constellation is a hunting ground of faint glimmers said to require lynx eyes to discern. It is a red giant swollen to nearly sixty solar radii, burning with the calm orange glow of a sun that has long since exhausted its hydrogen.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Lynx lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February: 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 Alpha Lynx
- Constellation
- Lynx
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.14
- Distance
- 203.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 140.264° · Dec 34.393°
- Catalogue
- HIP 45860 · HD 80493
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Lynx
Lynx has 60 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
See all 60 stars in Lynx