Star profile
Ruchbah
Delta Cassiopeiae · Cassiopeia
Variable starWhat is Ruchbah
Ruchbah is the white star tracing Cassiopeia's knee, faintly variable, some 99 light-years away. Its name, from the Arabic «rukbah», means precisely that: 'knee'. It belongs to the most recognisable W of the northern sky, that angular stroke which for centuries served both as a navigator's mark and as a guide for anyone wishing to find their bearings on a dark night with no map but the stars.
Where it is and when to see it
Ruchbah lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is November: 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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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 Ruchbah
- Constellation
- Cassiopeia
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.66
- Distance
- 99.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 21.453° · Dec 60.235°
- Catalogue
- HIP 6686 · HD 8538
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia has 93 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CihGamma Cassiopeiae2.15
- SchedarAlpha Cassiopeiae2.24
- CaphBeta Cassiopeiae2.28
- SeginEpsilon Cassiopeiae3.35
- AchirdEta Cassiopeiae3.46
- FuluZeta Cassiopeiae3.69
- 50 Cassiopeiae3.95
- Kappa Cassiopeiae4.17