Star profile
12 Ophiuchi
Variable starWhat is 12 Ophiuchi
12 Ophiuchi is a close neighbour, just 32 light-years away. It is a K1 orange dwarf with 91 % of the Sun's mass, slightly cooler —its surface hovers near 5,150 kelvin— and, above all, a BY Draconis variable: its brightness shifts as dark spots wheel along with it, revealing and hiding its rotation. A smaller, somewhat more active sister to the Sun.
Where it is and when to see it
12 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 12 Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.77
- Distance
- 31.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 249.089° · Dec -2.325°
- Catalogue
- HIP 81300 · HD 149661
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
- 73 Ophiuchi5.71
- 14 Ophiuchi5.74
- 26 Ophiuchi5.74
- HIP 851395.77
- HIP 875585.77