Star profile
Iota Octans
Southern polar starWhat is Iota Octans
Iota Octantis is an orange star at 352 light-years, set within the small Octant that surrounds the south celestial pole. In this region of the sky there is no bright star to play the role of a southern Polaris: only faint lights turning very slowly around an invisible axis. Iota Octantis is one of them, quietly watching the southern end of the world.
Where it is and when to see it
Iota Octans lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is June: 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.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
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
If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.
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 Iota Octans
- Constellation
- Octans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.45
- Distance
- 351.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 193.743° · Dec -85.123°
- Catalogue
- HIP 63031 · HD 111482
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Octans
Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Nu Octans3.73
- Beta Octans4.13
- Delta Octans4.31
- Xi Octans5.32
- Zeta Octans5.43
- Polaris AustralisSigma Octans5.45
- Phi Octans5.47
- Psi Octans5.49