Star profile

15 Draco

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is 15 Draco

15 Draconis drifts along the coils of the Dragon, that circumpolar serpent winding around the north celestial pole. A white A-class star —hotter than the Sun and clad in an almost pure hydrogen atmosphere— it reaches magnitude 4.94 from 487 light-years away. The light arriving tonight set out before any modern treatise had been written on the nature of our own Sun.

Where it is and when to see it

15 Draco lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is February, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 73° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 62° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 21° S.

It ranks no. 35 in brightness among the 122 stars of Draco in our catalogue. To find it, start from Eltanin, the brightest: it lies about 20° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 490 years ago.

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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 15 Draco

Constellation: Draco
Apparent magnitude: 4.94
Distance: 486.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 246.996° · Dec 68.768°
Catalogue: HIP 80650 · HD 149212

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Draco

Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 122 stars in Draco