Star profile
70 Virginis
What is 70 Virginis
70 Virginis was one of the first stars where humanity confirmed a planet beyond the Solar System: in January 1996, in San Antonio, the discovery was announced of a gas giant some seven times the mass of Jupiter sweeping around it on an eccentric 116-day orbit. It lies only 59 light-years away, practically around the cosmic corner. Its yellow light echoes the Sun's —a slightly older, more mature sister— and its name stayed inscribed in the history of astronomy.
Where it is and when to see it
70 Virginis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April: 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 70 Virginis
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.97
- Distance
- 58.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 202.108° · Dec 13.779°
- Catalogue
- HIP 65721 · HD 117176
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Virgo
Virgo has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- SpicaAlpha Virginis0.98
- PorrimaGamma Virginis2.74
- VindemiatrixEpsilon Virginis2.85
- HIP 692694.93
- 89 Virginis4.96
- 16 Virginis4.97
- HIP 693894.99
- 82 Virginis5.03