Star profile
Delta Ara
Hot blue starWhat is Delta Ara
Delta Arae burns in the south, above the celestial Altar that Greek astronomers pictured smoking beneath the Scorpion. It is a blue-white star, young and hot, with more than triple the Sun's mass, drifting with a faint yellow companion at its side. Its light needed almost two centuries to find us.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta Ara 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 63° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 29° N.
It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 43 stars of Ara in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Ara, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 200 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 Delta Ara
- Constellation
- Ara
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.60
- Distance
- 197.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 262.775° · Dec -60.684°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85727 · HD 158094
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Ara
Ara has 43 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Beta Ara2.84
- Alpha Ara2.84
- Zeta Ara3.12
- Gamma Ara3.31
- Theta Ara3.65
- Eta Ara3.77
- Epsilon 1 Ara4.06
- Sigma Ara4.56