Star profile
Iota Apus
Hot blue starWhat is Iota Apus
Iota Apodis burns at more than one thousand three hundred light-years, a blue B-type star in the Bird of Paradise, that small southern constellation barely glimpsed by equatorial observers. Its spectral type reveals a surface of extreme temperatures, a hastened life of millions of years rather than the billions our Sun will enjoy. A brief, hot candle in a southern corner.
Where it is and when to see it
Iota Apus 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 54° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 20° N.
It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 21 stars of Apus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Apus, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,300 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 Iota Apus
- Constellation
- Apus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.39
- Distance
- 1320.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 260.524° · Dec -70.123°
- Catalogue
- HIP 84979 · HD 156190
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Other stars in Apus
Apus has 21 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Apus3.83
- Gamma Apus3.86
- Beta Apus4.23
- Epsilon Apus5.06
- Delta 2 Apus5.27
- HIP 732235.37
- Kappa 1 Apus5.40
- HIP 811415.50