Star profile

56 Hydrae

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is 56 Hydrae

56 Hydrae glows about 358 light-years away within the immense body of Hydra, the largest of the 88 modern constellations. A G-type star, similar in colour to the Sun but more luminous and older, its light takes more than three centuries to reach us: the photons arriving now left when Newton was still publishing the Principia. Modest to the eye, its discretion suits this celestial serpent.

Where it is and when to see it

56 Hydrae 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: 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.

Write my signature

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 56 Hydrae

Constellation: Hydra
Apparent magnitude: 5.23
Distance: 358.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 221.937° · Dec -26.087°
Catalogue: HIP 72357 · HD 130259

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

Other stars in Hydra

Hydra has 121 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 121 stars in Hydra