Star profile
HIP 56656
What is HIP 56656
On the southern plains of Centaurus rests an orange K-type star. Its light departed two hundred and thirty-four years ago, when the Montgolfier brothers released into the sky the first crewed hot-air balloon. Cooler and quieter than the Sun, its glow arrives like an ember kindled deep in the loom of night. Each of its rays carries the elated murmur of a humanity discovering it could rise as well.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 56656 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 56656
- Constellation
- Centaurus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.14
- Distance
- 233.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 174.253° · Dec -61.283°
- Catalogue
- HIP 56656 · HD 101021
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Centaurus
Centaurus has 174 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Rigil KentaurusAlpha 1 Centauri-0.01
- HadarBeta Centauri0.61
- TolimanAlpha 2 Centauri1.35
- Omicron 2 Centauri5.12
- HIP 614685.12
- HIP 560005.14
- HIP 543605.15
- HIP 567545.15