Star profile
HIP 52154
Highly luminous starWhat is HIP 52154
In the southern constellation of Vela burns a yellow giant whose light took some 841 years to reach us. When it set out, Europe was raising its Gothic cathedrals and Marco Polo was traversing the Silk Road. Though it shares the golden hue of our Sun, its intrinsic brightness places it tens of times above —a mature, luminous echo of what we were once.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 52154 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 68° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 34° N.
It ranks no. 17 in brightness among the 127 stars of Vela in our catalogue. To find it, start from Gamma 2 Velorum, the brightest: it lies about 24° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 840 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 52154
- Constellation
- Vela
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.29
- Distance
- 840.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 159.827° · Dec -55.603°
- Catalogue
- HIP 52154 · HD 92449
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Vela
Vela has 127 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Gamma 2 Velorum1.75
- AlsephinaDelta Velorum1.93
- SuhailLambda Velorum2.23
- HIP 430233.87
- HIP 428844.05
- HIP 423124.11
- HIP 471754.34
- HIP 537734.37