Star profile
HIP 66257
Variable starWhat is HIP 66257
Within Canes Venatici beats a yellow-white variable whose brightness rises and falls with a slow, almost musical pulse. Its light has been traveling for roughly a hundred and fifty years: it set out when the first transatlantic cables were being laid and the telegraph began stitching the continents together. Slightly hotter and brighter than the Sun, it is an elder sibling that has not quite decided what it will become. Each oscillation of its glow is like an ancient breath we are only now able to hear.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 66257 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 76° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 86° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 53° S.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 33 stars of Canes Venatici in our catalogue. To find it, start from Cor Caroli, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 150 years ago.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
Leave your signature on HIP 66257
Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works
We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, 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 HIP 66257
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.91
- Distance
- 148.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 203.699° · Dec 37.182°
- Catalogue
- HIP 66257 · HD 118216
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
- 5 Canum Venaticorum4.76
- HIP 676654.76
- 25 Canum Venaticorum4.82
- HIP 645404.94
- 6 Canum Venaticorum5.01