Star profile
HIP 50078
What is HIP 50078
In Vela, that piece of the ancient ship Argo, shines an A-type white star. Its light set out almost three hundred and forty years ago, towards the end of the seventeenth century, when Halley was calculating the orbit of the comet that would carry his name. Hotter and more luminous than the Sun, it gives off that cool white glow of young stars. It hangs discreetly from the celestial canvas, never disputing the spotlight of the great lights of the ship, like a lesser sail the cartographer's hand added to complete the rigging of the southern voyage.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 50078 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: 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 HIP 50078
- Constellation
- Vela
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.78
- Distance
- 341.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 153.367° · Dec -51.756°
- Catalogue
- HIP 50078 · HD 88842
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Vela
Vela has 127 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma 2 Velorum1.75
- AlsephinaDelta Velorum1.93
- SuhailLambda Velorum2.23
- HIP 515615.76
- HIP 401555.77
- HIP 451225.78
- HIP 421775.79
- HIP 436035.79