Star profile
HIP 51979
Cool red starWhat is HIP 51979
In the coils of Hydra glows a copper-toned red giant of class M, whose light set out 487 years ago while Europe was absorbing the shock of the Lutheran Reformation. Stars of this kind are swollen elders, cool at the surface yet enormous —a hundred solar radii or more is not unusual—, slowly shedding their outer layers into space.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 51979 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 culminates about 11° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 22° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 63° N.
It ranks no. 34 in brightness among the 121 stars of Hydra in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alphard, the brightest: it lies about 25° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 490 years ago.
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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 51979
- Constellation
- Hydra
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.87
- Distance
- 487.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 159.307° · Dec -27.413°
- Catalogue
- HIP 51979 · HD 92036
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Other stars in Hydra
Hydra has 121 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlphardAlpha Hydrae1.99
- Gamma Hydrae2.99
- Zeta Hydrae3.11
- 27 Hydrae4.80
- 9 Hydrae4.87
- HIP 485594.87
- HIP 520094.89
- Phi 3 Hydrae4.91