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Star profile

Kappa 2 Boötis

Variable star
3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Kappa 2 Boötis

Kappa-2 Boötis carries the traditional name Asellus Tertius —«the third donkey colt»— and pairs with Kappa-1 as a double visible in a small telescope, separated by 13.5 arcseconds. It is an A8 subgiant pulsing as a Delta Scuti variable: its brightness flickers gently every 1.08 hours as it nears the end of its main-sequence life with a nearly exhausted hydrogen core. At 162 light-years, it beats quietly across the cloak of the Herdsman.

Where it is and when to see it

Kappa 2 Boötis 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: 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.

Find it on the sky map

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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

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, 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 Kappa 2 Boötis

Constellation
Boötes
Apparent magnitude
4.53
Distance
163.4 light years
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 213.371° · Dec 51.790°
Catalogue
HIP 69483 · HD 124675

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Boötes

Boötes has 88 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 88 stars in Boötes