Star profile
HIP 51821
Variable starWhat is HIP 51821
In the small Antlia blinks a white, variable star: its brightness will not stay still, rising and falling to a rhythm of its own. Its light took some 875 years to cross the void —it set out in the heart of the Middle Ages, around the year 1151, when the abbey of Pontigny was being raised in Burgundy. Hotter than the Sun, it pulses in the south like a breathing lighthouse.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 51821 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 10° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 50° N.
It ranks no. 9 in brightness among the 23 stars of Antlia in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Antliae, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 870 years ago.
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Leave your signature on HIP 51821
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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 51821
- Constellation
- Antlia
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.50
- Distance
- 874.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 158.804° · Dec -39.563°
- Catalogue
- HIP 51821 · HD 91793
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Antlia
Antlia has 23 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Antliae4.28
- Epsilon Antliae4.51
- Iota Antliae4.60
- HIP 508885.34
- HIP 541735.43
- HIP 465785.49
- HIP 504565.52
- Delta Antliae5.57