Star profile

HIP 78650

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

What is HIP 78650

In the coiled tail of the Scorpion burns a calm orange flame, 207 light-years from Earth. Its light departed around 1818, when Mary Shelley published «Frankenstein» and Romanticism discovered that the night could also be a laboratory. K-type giants like this have left youth behind: they burn helium within and tint the cosmos a gold warmer than the Sun.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 78650 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 13° 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. 40 in brightness among the 104 stars of Scorpius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Antares, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 210 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 78650

Constellation: Scorpius
Apparent magnitude: 4.96
Distance: 207.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 240.836° · Dec -25.865°
Catalogue: HIP 78650 · HD 143787

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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