Star profile
Delta Sextantis
Hot blue starWhat is Delta Sextantis
Delta Sextantis is a blue B-type star some 322 light-years away, set into a constellation invented by Hevelius in the seventeenth century to honour the sextant with which he measured celestial positions. The figure is modest, almost a technical tribute to the instrument. There, far from the classical icons, this star gives just enough brightness to keep the astronomer's tool inscribed in the sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta 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 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 Delta Sextantis
- Constellation
- Sextans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.19
- Distance
- 322.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 157.370° · Dec -2.739°
- Catalogue
- HIP 51362 · HD 90882
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
- Epsilon Sextantis5.25
- HIP 510465.60
- 18 Sextantis5.64
- HIP 479605.65
- 19 Sextantis5.77