Star profile
HIP 51046
Cool red starWhat is HIP 51046
In the unobtrusive constellation of Sextans — an astronomical instrument turned figure by Hevelius — burns a red M-type giant, cool and vast. Its 397 light-years were born when Galileo was still pointing his spyglass at Jupiter and discovering its Medicean moons, quietly opening a new astronomy. The light now reaching us is coeval with those first telescopic observations that forever altered our place.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 51046 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.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
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
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 51046
- Constellation
- Sextans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.60
- Distance
- 396.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 156.434° · Dec -7.060°
- Catalogue
- HIP 51046 · HD 90362
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.
- Alpha Sextantis4.48
- Gamma Sextantis5.07
- Beta Sextantis5.08
- Delta Sextantis5.19
- Epsilon Sextantis5.25
- 18 Sextantis5.64
- HIP 479605.65
- 19 Sextantis5.77