Star profile
Mirach
Beta Andromedae · Andromeda
Red giantWhat is Mirach
Mirach is a cool red class-M giant burning 197.5 light-years away in Andromeda. Its reddish tint, visible to the naked eye, betrays an aged star whose outer layers have swelled for billions of years. The name derives from the Arabic «mizar», girdle, marking the side of the chained princess of Greek myth. Sky-watchers often use it as a stepping stone to find the Andromeda Galaxy lying right beside it.
Where it is and when to see it
Mirach lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October: 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 Mirach
- Constellation
- Andromeda
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.07
- Distance
- 197.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 17.433° · Dec 35.621°
- Catalogue
- HIP 5447 · HD 6860
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Andromeda
Andromeda has 81 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlpheratzAlpha Andromedae2.07
- AlmachGamma 1 Andromedae2.10
- Delta Andromedae3.27
- Nembus3.59
- Omicron Andromedae3.62
- Lambda Andromedae3.81
- Mu Andromedae3.86
- Zeta Andromedae4.08