Star profile

Cebalrai

Beta Ophiuchi · Ophiuchus

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Cebalrai

Cebalrai marks the right shoulder of Ophiuchus, an orange K-type giant 82 light-years away. Its name, from the Arabic «Kalb ar-Rā‘ī», means «the shepherd's dog», a reference to old pastoral figures that populated the medieval Islamic sky before the Greco-Latin constellations took hold. It is a placid star, slightly cooler than the Sun yet much larger, whose coppery glow tints that corner of the summer sky with a warm, serene hue.

Where it is and when to see it

Cebalrai 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.

Find it on the sky map

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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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Write my signature

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 Cebalrai

Constellation: Ophiuchus
Apparent magnitude: 2.76
Distance: 81.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 265.868° · Dec 4.567°
Catalogue: HIP 86742 · HD 161096

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.

See all 88 stars in Ophiuchus