Star profile
Alpha Sextantis
What is Alpha Sextantis
Alpha Sextantis has a quiet geographic distinction: it lies less than a quarter of a degree from the celestial equator, almost exactly on the line that divides the two hemispheres. In 1900 it sat to the north; in December 1923 it crossed to the south. It is the brightest star of Sextans, an astronomical instrument turned constellation in the seventeenth century by Johannes Hevelius. A white A0 giant, 283 light-years away, burning at 8,600 kelvin.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha Sextantis 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: 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 Sextantis
- Constellation
- Sextans
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.48
- Distance
- 283.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 151.985° · Dec -0.372°
- Catalogue
- HIP 49641 · HD 87887
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Sextans
Sextans has 17 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma Sextantis5.07
- Beta Sextantis5.08
- Delta Sextantis5.19
- Epsilon Sextantis5.25
- HIP 510465.60
- 18 Sextantis5.64
- HIP 479605.65
- 19 Sextantis5.77