Star profile
Phi Serpens
What is Phi Serpens
Phi Serpentis is an orange star at 241 light-years, set on one of the great coils of the Serpent that the celestial Ophiuchus holds firmly in his hands. Its warm light, characteristic of K-type stars, points to a surface cooler than the Sun's and a somewhat advanced nuclear history. A quiet flame coiled around the only constellation mythology ever split into two distinct halves.
Where it is and when to see it
Phi Serpens lies in the northern 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.
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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
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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 Phi Serpens
- Constellation
- Serpens
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.54
- Distance
- 241.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 239.311° · Dec 14.414°
- Catalogue
- HIP 78132 · HD 142980
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Serpens
Serpens has 65 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- UnukalhaiAlpha Serpens2.63
- Eta Serpens3.23
- Mu Serpens3.54
- HIP 898515.39
- HIP 779025.45
- 11 Serpens5.50
- HIP 860195.54
- 64 Serpens5.56