Star profile

HIP 57439

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is HIP 57439

Within Centaurus shines a yellow beacon whose light, set adrift 389 years ago, was already in flight when Galileo trained his lens on the moons of Jupiter. It shares the Sun's chromatic lineage —a mature G star, golden and warm— but swollen into a girth dozens of times wider. Its modest gleam to the unaided eye traces a quiet bridge between the southern sky and the human curiosity that was then beginning to pierce the firmament.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 57439 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 63° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 29° N.

It ranks no. 25 in brightness among the 174 stars of Centaurus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigil Kentaurus, the brightest: it lies about 21° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 390 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 57439

Constellation: Centaurus
Apparent magnitude: 4.11
Distance: 389.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 176.628° · Dec -61.178°
Catalogue: HIP 57439 · HD 102350

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.

See all 174 stars in Centaurus