Star profile
Marfik
Lambda Ophiuchi · Ophiuchus
What is Marfik
Marfik is the Lambda of Ophiuchus, its name derived from the Arabic «al-mirfaq», «the elbow» — designating, as one might guess, the joint of the snake-handler's arm. A white A-class star about 173 light-years away, it is a middling flame in an immense constellation stretched across the celestial equator, one the Sun briefly crosses each year even though the traditional zodiac passes it by.
Where it is and when to see it
Marfik lies in the northern 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 Marfik
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.82
- Distance
- 173.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 247.728° · Dec 1.984°
- Catalogue
- HIP 80883 · HD 148857
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
- HYG 1191313.40
- 72 Ophiuchi3.71
- Gamma Ophiuchi3.75
- 67 Ophiuchi3.93
- 70 Ophiuchi4.03