Star profile

HIP 83947

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is HIP 83947

In Hercules, the hero of the northern sky, an orange K-type star pulses 282 light-years away. Its light set out while Europe was living the Enlightenment and Voltaire was sharpening his pen against dogma. Cooler and longer-lived than the Sun, its warm hue recalls amber held against the light. On a quiet summer night, when Hercules hangs above the horizon, that patient ember has been burning since the eighteenth century.

Where it is and when to see it

HIP 83947 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, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
From New York it culminates about 90° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 15° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 49° S.

It ranks no. 46 in brightness among the 136 stars of Hercules in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kornephoros, the brightest: it lies about 21° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 280 years ago.

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Astronomical data for HIP 83947

Constellation: Hercules
Apparent magnitude: 5.07
Distance: 282.2 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 257.389° · Dec 40.777°
Catalogue: HIP 83947 · HD 155410

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

Other stars in Hercules

Hercules has 136 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 136 stars in Hercules