Star profile
Lambda Musca
What is Lambda Musca
Lambda Muscae is a white star flying near the southern celestial pole, in the small austral constellation of the Fly. About one hundred and twenty-seven light-years from Earth, its sharp light belongs to the deep southern sky, entirely invisible from Europe or from most of the Mediterranean coast. It is one of the beacons that Portuguese and Spanish navigators learned to recognise once they crossed the equator on the way to the Indies, when they first encountered a sky filled with constellations the ancients had never seen.
Where it is and when to see it
Lambda Musca lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May, 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 57° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 23° N.
It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 31 stars of Musca in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Musca, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 130 years ago.
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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 Lambda Musca
- Constellation
- Musca
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.63
- Distance
- 127.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 176.402° · Dec -66.729°
- Catalogue
- HIP 57363 · HD 102249
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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
- Gamma Musca3.84
- Epsilon Musca4.06
- Mu Musca4.75
- Eta Musca4.79
- HIP 648204.86