Star profile
Eta Musca
Variable starWhat is Eta Musca
Eta Muscae is an eclipsing binary in the small southern Fly: every 2.4 days its two components pass in front of each other and the combined light blinks. It belongs to the Lower Centaurus-Crux subgroup of the Sco OB2 association, a young river of blue stars sharing origin and motion through the Galaxy. At nearly 383 light-years, it drifts within the loveliest current of the southern sky.
Where it is and when to see it
Eta 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 56° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 22° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 31 stars of Musca in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Musca, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 380 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Eta Musca
- Constellation
- Musca
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.79
- Distance
- 382.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 198.812° · Dec -67.895°
- Catalogue
- HIP 64661 · HD 114911
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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
- HIP 648204.86
- HIP 578514.89