Star profile
Sigma Lupi
Variable starWhat is Sigma Lupi
Sigma Lupi is a variable blue star at 575 light-years, lit on the flank of the southern Wolf, a constellation only properly appreciated from latitudes well south of Europe. Its very faint brightness oscillations are pure stellar seismology: small pulsations that let astronomers read the star's interior as one listens for a heartbeat beneath skin. No human eye will perceive its pulse, but detectors track it, faithful, round after round.
Where it is and when to see it
Sigma Lupi lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 73° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 40° N.
It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 74 stars of Lupus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Lupi, the brightest: it lies about 3° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 580 years ago.
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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 Sigma Lupi
- Constellation
- Lupus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.44
- Distance
- 575.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 218.154° · Dec -50.457°
- Catalogue
- HIP 71121 · HD 127381
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Other stars in Lupus
Lupus has 74 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Lupi2.30
- Beta Lupi2.68
- Gamma Lupi2.80
- Tau 2 Lupi4.33
- Omega Lupi4.34
- 2 Lupi4.35
- Phi 2 Lupi4.54
- HIP 763714.55