Star profile
Upsilon Ophiuchi
What is Upsilon Ophiuchi
Upsilon Ophiuchi is a white A-type star about 133 light-years away, in the body of the Serpent Bearer. Its pure light, with barely a yellow or blue tint, betrays a surface temperature several thousand degrees hotter than the Sun. It belongs to the secondary backdrop of Ophiuchus —that vast constellation the Sun crosses each December, yet the traditional zodiac never names.
Where it is and when to see it
Upsilon Ophiuchi 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 Upsilon Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.62
- Distance
- 133.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 246.951° · Dec -8.372°
- Catalogue
- HIP 80628 · HD 148367
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus has 88 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- RasalhagueAlpha Ophiuchi2.08
- SabikEta Ophiuchi2.43
- Zeta Ophiuchi2.54
- HIP 853654.53
- Rho Ophiuchi4.57
- Mu Ophiuchi4.58
- 20 Ophiuchi4.64
- 71 Ophiuchi4.64