Star profile
HIP 85537
What is HIP 85537
Within the coils of Ophiuchus, the Serpent-Bearer, shines a white type A star, hotter and more luminous than the Sun. Its light took nearly 195 years to arrive: it set out when Goya painted his black paintings and post-Napoleonic Europe reshaped its borders at the Congress of Vienna. It still lights with an incandescent coolness the shoulders of the snake-bearer, that mythic giant who holds the healer of the sky between Hercules and Scorpius.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 85537 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, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 39° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 50° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 56° above the horizon.
It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from nearly the whole planet.
It ranks no. 52 in brightness among the 88 stars of Ophiuchus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rasalhague, the brightest: it lies about 12° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 190 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 HIP 85537
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.41
- Distance
- 194.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 262.207° · Dec 0.331°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85537 · HD 158352
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
- 37 Ophiuchi5.32
- HIP 912175.38
- HIP 806935.41
- HIP 897725.41
- HIP 839625.43