Star profile
HIP 52221
Variable starWhat is HIP 52221
Deep within Carina pulses a blue B-type sun, a variable flame whose brightness rises and falls as though breathing. Its light travelled 524 years to today: when it set out, Leonardo da Vinci was beginning his notebooks on anatomy and mechanics. Far more massive and hotter than our Sun, its blue glow trembles in nearly imperceptible cycles, a slow heartbeat reminding us that no star, however steady it looks, is ever entirely still.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 52221 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: 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 HIP 52221
- Constellation
- Carina
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.51
- Distance
- 523.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 160.048° · Dec -65.100°
- Catalogue
- HIP 52221 · HD 92664
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Carina
Carina has 124 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CanopusAlpha Carinae-0.62
- MiaplacidusBeta Carinae1.67
- AviorEpsilon Carinae1.86
- HIP 520045.47
- HIP 340005.50
- HIP 355645.50
- HIP 395665.52
- HIP 452195.54