Star profile

Kang

Kappa Virginis · Virgo

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Kang

Kang carries a name drawn straight from classical Chinese astronomy: Jiao, the horn, part of one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions that organised its sky. Physically it is an orange K-class giant 254 light years away, a discreet beacon at the edge of Virgo. Its light departed around 1770, when James Cook was charting the first precise coastlines of Australia.

Where it is and when to see it

Kang lies in the southern 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

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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 Kang

Constellation: Virgo
Apparent magnitude: 4.18
Distance: 254.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 213.224° · Dec -10.274°
Catalogue: HIP 69427 · HD 124294

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.

See all 99 stars in Virgo