Star profile
Sigma Ophiuchi
Highly luminous starWhat is Sigma Ophiuchi
Sigma Ophiuchi is a luminous K-type giant about 901 light-years away, half-hidden in the broad body of the Serpent-Bearer. Its orange ember owes more to true luminosity than to apparent brightness: what reaches Earth is only a faint share of the light it pours into space. Distance dissolves its splendour into a modest spark, yet its spectrum betrays a deep atmosphere bright enough to illuminate whole stretches of the molecular cloud in which it ages, well away from the bustle of the galactic core.
Where it is and when to see it
Sigma Ophiuchi lies in the northern 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 Sigma Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.34
- Distance
- 901.1 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 261.629° · Dec 4.140°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85355 · HD 157999
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
- 45 Ophiuchi4.28
- Phi Ophiuchi4.29
- Guniibuu4.33
- Iota Ophiuchi4.39
- Xi Ophiuchi4.39