Star profile

Fang

Pi Scorpii · Scorpius

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class B · ~15,000 K

What is Fang

Fang, in Scorpius, takes its name from an ancient Chinese asterism representing a room or chamber, part of the traditional division of the sky into the twenty-eight lunar mansions used by court astronomers. It is a blue variable star 586 light-years away, member of a multiple system whose combined brightness shifts in subtle, slow rhythms. Its light set out around the time Gutenberg was finishing his first printed Bible in the workshops of Mainz.

Where it is and when to see it

Fang 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 culminates about 12° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 23° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 82° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 64° N.

It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 104 stars of Scorpius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Antares, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 590 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Fang

Constellation: Scorpius
Apparent magnitude: 2.89
Distance: 585.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 239.713° · Dec -26.114°
Catalogue: HIP 78265 · HD 143018

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Other stars in Scorpius

Scorpius has 104 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 104 stars in Scorpius