Star profile
21 Canum Venaticorum
Variable starWhat is 21 Canum Venaticorum
21 Canum Venaticorum —also known as BK CVn— is a silicon star of the Alpha-2 Canum Venaticorum class: a peculiar variable type whose brightness shifts slightly as chemical patches rotate across its surface. Its variability —just 0.04 magnitudes over 18.4 hours— was discovered in 1984 by Juraj Zverko. A blue subgiant 277 light-years away with nearly three solar masses, it spins fast and shows how a star's magnetic imperfections can paradoxically become its most recognisable signature.
Where it is and when to see it
21 Canum Venaticorum lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March: 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 21 Canum Venaticorum
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.14
- Distance
- 274.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 199.561° · Dec 49.682°
- Catalogue
- HIP 64906 · HD 115735
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Canes Venatici
Canes Venatici has 33 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Cor CaroliAlpha 2 Canum Venaticorum2.89
- CharaBeta Canum Venaticorum4.24
- 24 Canum Venaticorum4.68
- HIP 662574.91
- HIP 645404.94
- 6 Canum Venaticorum5.01
- 14 Canum Venaticorum5.20
- 3 Canum Venaticorum5.28