Star profile
51 Ophiuchi
What is 51 Ophiuchi
51 Ophiuchi is one of the few known stars wrapped in a still-forming debris disc —a young planetary system caught mid-genesis 406 light-years away. Its disc holds gas and dust, silicate grains and traces of water, carbon monoxide and dioxide. Astronomers regard it as a younger analogue of the celebrated Beta Pictoris cradle. The light arriving tonight left before the Renaissance.
Where it is and when to see it
51 Ophiuchi 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: 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 51 Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.78
- Distance
- 405.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 262.854° · Dec -23.963°
- Catalogue
- HIP 85755 · HD 158643
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
- 71 Ophiuchi4.64
- 41 Ophiuchi4.72
- Tau Ophiuchi4.77
- 66 Ophiuchi4.79
- 30 Ophiuchi4.82