Star profile

Tau 2 Hydrae

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Tau 2 Hydrae

Tau-2 Hydrae is a white A-type star more than five hundred light-years away, set within the immense winding of the sky's longest constellation. Hydra crosses over a quarter of the celestial vault and still echoes the hundred-headed monster slain by Heracles. Tau-2 occupies a hushed stretch of its body —the starlit desert that demands patience and dark sky to reveal itself.

Where it is and when to see it

Tau 2 Hydrae 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 37° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 48° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 57° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 89° N.

It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 121 stars of Hydra in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alphard, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 520 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 Tau 2 Hydrae

Constellation: Hydra
Apparent magnitude: 4.54
Distance: 517.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 142.996° · Dec -1.185°
Catalogue: HIP 46776 · HD 82446

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Other stars in Hydra

Hydra has 121 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 121 stars in Hydra