Star profile
23 Ophiuchi
What is 23 Ophiuchi
23 Ophiuchi is an orange star of Ophiuchus, that vast and underrated constellation that sits astride the celestial equator with the Milky Way crossing its shoulders. Of K class, its tone is that of a cool, steady ember. The light now grazing the atmosphere set out around 1785, when William Herschel was still polishing telescope mirrors in provincial Bath.
Where it is and when to see it
23 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 June: 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 23 Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.23
- Distance
- 240.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 253.649° · Dec -6.154°
- Catalogue
- HIP 82730 · HD 152601
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 846715.03
- Guniibuu B5.07
- Omicron Ophiuchi5.14
- Tau Ophiuchi5.24
- HIP 806205.24