Star profile

HIP 52009

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is HIP 52009

Through the winding coils of Hydra flickers a white A-type star, a variable that breathes in slow rhythm. Its light set off nearly seven hundred years ago, when the masters of Avignon were painting frescoes and the Black Death roamed the roads of Europe. Hotter than the Sun, it pulses subtly, like a flame trembling at the rim of a medieval lamp. Each flicker reaches us heavy with the air of that troubled century.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 52009 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 25° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 36° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 69° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 77° N.

It ranks no. 35 in brightness among the 121 stars of Hydra in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alphard, the brightest: it lies about 18° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 680 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on HIP 52009

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

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 52009

Constellation: Hydra
Apparent magnitude: 4.89
Distance: 679.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 159.389° · Dec -13.385°
Catalogue: HIP 52009 · HD 92055

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Hydra

Hydra has 121 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 121 stars in Hydra