Star profile
Tau Virginis
What is Tau Virginis
Tau Virginis is a white A-type star on the eastern flank of the Virgin, a region of the sky known to host a swarm of distant galaxies beyond its apparent glow. It is surrounded by a dust disc detected in the infrared, perhaps the remnant of a primitive planetary system still under construction. Its light, after travelling 225 years, reached Earth as the nineteenth century was about to begin.
Where it is and when to see it
Tau 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 Tau Virginis
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.23
- Distance
- 225.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 210.412° · Dec 1.545°
- Catalogue
- HIP 68520 · HD 122408
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
- SyrmaIota Virginis4.07
- Omicron Virginis4.12
- KangKappa Virginis4.18
- Theta Virginis4.38
- 110 Virginis4.39