Star profile

Iota Tucanae

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Iota Tucanae

Iota Tucanae is a G-type yellow giant about 304 light-years away in the southern Toucan. With twice the Sun's mass and an eleven-fold radius, it has already left the main sequence and emits faint semi-regular pulses on a 67-day period. It is also an X-ray source, evidence of chromospheric activity at its swollen surface. A star offering a plausible glimpse of the Sun's distant future, some five billion years from now.

Where it is and when to see it

Iota Tucanae lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, 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 never sets and culminates about 62° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 28° N.

It ranks no. 13 in brightness among the 28 stars of Tucana in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Tucanae, the brightest: it lies about 20° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 300 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Iota Tucanae

Constellation: Tucana
Apparent magnitude: 5.36
Distance: 304.3 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 16.828° · Dec -61.775°
Catalogue: HIP 5268 · HD 6793

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Other stars in Tucana

Tucana has 28 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 28 stars in Tucana