Star profile
Theta Musca
Variable starWhat is Theta Musca
θ Muscae is a strikingly distant variable star in the small southern Fly tucked beside the Southern Cross. Its light takes tens of thousands of years to reach us, which points to a body of colossal luminosity — a massive, hot system whose output shifts over time. When this light first set out, humanity was barely beginning to use articulate language as we know it.
Where it is and when to see it
Theta 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: 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 Theta Musca
- Constellation
- Musca
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.44
- Distance
- 326200.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 197.030° · Dec -65.306°
- Catalogue
- HIP 64094 · HD 113904
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
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
- Zeta 2 Musca5.15
- HIP 591515.17
- HIP 588845.34
- HIP 556575.55
- HIP 626085.55