Star profile

Lambda Ara

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Lambda Ara

Lambda Arae is a yellow-white type F star sitting about 70 light-years away, on the southern Altar —the constellation the ancients imagined as the pyre on which the gods swore their pact against the Titans—. Hotter and a touch older than the Sun, its sharp light flows toward us from a region of the sky dominated by the thick Milky Way running down to the galactic centre.

Where it is and when to see it

Lambda 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 culminates about 74° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 41° N.

It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 43 stars of Ara in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Ara, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 70 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Lambda Ara

Constellation: Ara
Apparent magnitude: 4.76
Distance: 70.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 265.099° · Dec -49.416°
Catalogue: HIP 86486 · HD 160032

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Other stars in Ara

Ara has 43 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 43 stars in Ara