Star profile

HIP 7568

Southern polar star

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is HIP 7568

Within Octans, almost grazing the southern celestial pole, an orange K-class giant watches over the path of austral navigators. Its light began its voyage more than three hundred and eighty years ago, when Galileo was aiming his telescope at Jupiter for the first time. Cooler and larger than the Sun, it gleams as a quiet beacon for those who seek the south without a polar star as bright as the northern one.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 7568 lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July, 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 never sets and culminates about 39° up.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 5° N.

It ranks no. 22 in brightness among the 35 stars of Octans in our catalogue. To find it, start from Nu Octans, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 380 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 7568

Constellation: Octans
Apparent magnitude: 5.66
Distance: 380.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 24.366° · Dec -84.770°
Catalogue: HIP 7568 · HD 11025

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Other stars in Octans

Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 35 stars in Octans