Star profile
HIP 55597
Hot blue starWhat is HIP 55597
In tiny Musca, a modern constellation of the southern sky, glows a blue B-type star at 403 light-years —far enough that its light departed when Newton published the «Principia» in 1687. It is a blue-white furnace several times hotter than the Sun, stitched to an austral corner that Renaissance European navigators named while charting southern skies for the first time.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 55597 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 never sets and culminates about 59° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 25° N.
It ranks no. 14 in brightness among the 31 stars of Musca in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Musca, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 400 years ago.
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Leave your signature on HIP 55597
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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 55597
- Constellation
- Musca
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.09
- Distance
- 403.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 170.839° · Dec -64.955°
- Catalogue
- HIP 55597 · HD 99103
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Musca
Musca has 31 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Musca2.69
- Beta Musca3.04
- Delta Musca3.61
- HIP 576964.98
- HIP 568625.01
- Iota 1 Musca5.04
- Zeta 2 Musca5.15
- HIP 591515.17