Star profile
HIP 75974
What is HIP 75974
The circumpolar Dragon, coiling its body between the two Bears, holds an orange star whose light set out three hundred and eight years ago, when Newton was publishing the second edition of his Principia. It is an ageing giant with a surface cooler than the Sun’s, which gives it that soft copper colour of embers. It belongs to the stars that never set for northern observers, eternal sentinels guarding the pole. Through binoculars its warm tone becomes unmistakable, almost human.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 75974 lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is March, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 77° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 66° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 26° S.
It ranks no. 92 in brightness among the 122 stars of Draco in our catalogue. To find it, start from Eltanin, the brightest: it lies about 23° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 310 years ago.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
Leave your signature on HIP 75974
Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works
We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.
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 HIP 75974
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.74
- Distance
- 308.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 232.733° · Dec 64.209°
- Catalogue
- HIP 75974 · HD 138852
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Draco
Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- EltaninGamma Draco2.24
- AthebyneEta Draco2.73
- RastabanBeta Draco2.79
- HIP 597465.72
- HIP 752605.72
- HIP 711115.74
- 41 Draco5.74
- HIP 913155.74