Star profile
Alniyat
Sigma Scorpii · Scorpius
Variable starWhat is Alniyat
Alniyat, sigma Scorpii, is a blue variable that pulses beside red Antares in the very heart of the celestial scorpion. Its Arabic name «al-niyāṭ» refers to the arteries supporting the heart: a precise anatomical image for a star that literally beats. The light we see tonight travelled 697 years, set off when the Black Death was rewriting the demography of Europe.
Where it is and when to see it
Alniyat 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: 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 Alniyat
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.90
- Distance
- 697.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 245.297° · Dec -25.593°
- Catalogue
- HIP 80112 · HD 147165
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Scorpius
Scorpius has 104 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AntaresAlpha Scorpii1.06
- ShaulaLambda Scorpii1.62
- SargasTheta Scorpii1.86
- LesathUpsilon Scorpii2.70
- PaikauhaleTau Scorpii2.82
- FangPi Scorpii2.89
- Iota 1 Scorpii2.99
- XamidimuraMu 1 Scorpii3.00