Star profile
Xi Virginis
What is Xi Virginis
Xi Virginis is a white main-sequence star 122 light-years away, still young — about 480 million years old — and spinning rapidly at 130 kilometres per second at its equator. It shines with nearly thirteen solar luminosities at 8,000 kelvin, deep in the body of the Maiden, far from the throne of Spica. Its quick spin flattens it slightly at the poles, an imperfection invisible to the eye yet measurable in its spectrum.
Where it is and when to see it
Xi Virginis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March: 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 Xi Virginis
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.84
- Distance
- 122.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 176.321° · Dec 8.258°
- Catalogue
- HIP 57328 · HD 102124
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Virgo
Virgo has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- SpicaAlpha Virginis0.98
- PorrimaGamma Virginis2.74
- VindemiatrixEpsilon Virginis2.85
- Psi Virginis4.77
- Sigma Virginis4.78
- ElgafarPhi Virginis4.81
- Rho Virginis4.88
- 78 Virginis4.92