Star profile
Seginus
Gamma Boötis · Boötes
Variable starWhat is Seginus
Seginus, white and slightly variable, shines at 86 light-years from the Earth in the constellation of Boötes, not far from bright Arcturus, its powerful celestial neighbour. It belongs to those stars that have received different names across cultures without truly settling on any one: the current form is a corruption, passed down through medieval copyists, of the very Greek «Boötes» that names the constellation as a whole. Its near-constant light, to the ordinary human eye, has been travelling toward us for little more than three human generations through the dark of interstellar space.
Where it is and when to see it
Seginus 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 Seginus
- Constellation
- Boötes
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.04
- Distance
- 86.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 218.020° · Dec 38.308°
- Catalogue
- HIP 71075 · HD 127762
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.
- ArcturusAlpha Boötis-0.05
- IzarEpsilon Boötis2.35
- MuphridEta Boötis2.68
- Delta Boötis3.46
- NekkarBeta Boötis3.49
- Rho Boötis3.57
- Zeta Boötis3.78
- Theta Boötis4.04