Star profile
Alpha Lupi
Variable starWhat is Alpha Lupi
Alpha Lupi anchors the heart of the southern Wolf with a quiet blue-white glow: it belongs to the Beta Cephei family of variables, giants that swell and contract every few hours in pulses too subtle for the naked eye. At 465 light-years, it is a serious candidate to one day erupt as a supernova on a cosmic timescale. The light arriving tonight set out before Galileo first turned his glass skyward.
Where it is and when to see it
Alpha 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 culminates about 2° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 77° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 43° N.
It is the brightest of the 74 stars of Lupus in our catalogue, which makes it the best starting point for finding your way around the constellation.
The light you see today left it about 460 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 Alpha Lupi
- Constellation
- Lupus
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.30
- Distance
- 464.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 220.482° · Dec -47.388°
- Catalogue
- HIP 71860 · HD 129056
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Other stars in Lupus
Lupus has 74 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Lupi2.68
- Gamma Lupi2.80
- Delta Lupi3.22
- Epsilon Lupi3.37
- Zeta Lupi3.41
- Eta Lupi3.42
- Iota Lupi3.55
- Phi 1 Lupi3.57