Star profile
HIP 46974
Hot blue starWhat is HIP 46974
Deep within Carina burns a blue beacon whose light took 1,326 years to reach us. When that photon set out, the Carolingian Empire was unravelling around the Treaty of Verdun and Europe was fracturing into new borders. It belongs to spectral class B —hot titans that devour their hydrogen at a vertiginous rate— which is why its glow persists where distance ought to silence it.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 46974 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 65° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 31° N.
It ranks no. 19 in brightness among the 124 stars of Carina in our catalogue. To find it, start from Canopus, the brightest: it lies about 27° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,300 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 HIP 46974
- Constellation
- Carina
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.08
- Distance
- 1326.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 143.611° · Dec -59.230°
- Catalogue
- HIP 46974 · HD 83183
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Carina
Carina has 124 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CanopusAlpha Carinae-0.62
- MiaplacidusBeta Carinae1.67
- AviorEpsilon Carinae1.86
- HIP 544633.93
- HIP 451013.96
- HIP 509543.99
- HIP 425684.31
- HIP 454964.34