Star profile
Algieba
Gamma 1 Leonis · Leo
What is Algieba
Algieba marks the mane of the celestial lion, an orange giant blazing 130 light-years away. Its name comes from the Arabic «al-jabha», 'the forehead', though medieval translators placed it on the mane by mistake — and there it has stayed. Through a small telescope it reveals itself as a striking system: two golden suns locked in a slow waltz no naked eye can untangle.
Where it is and when to see it
Algieba 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.
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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 Algieba
- Constellation
- Leo
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.01
- Distance
- 130.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 154.993° · Dec 19.841°
- Catalogue
- HIP 50583 · HD 89484
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Leo
Leo has 80 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- RegulusAlpha Leonis1.36
- DenebolaBeta Leonis2.14
- ZosmaDelta Leonis2.56
- Ras Elased AustralisEpsilon Leonis2.97
- ChertanTheta Leonis3.33
- AdhaferaZeta Leonis3.43
- Eta Leonis3.48
- SubraOmicron Leonis3.52