Star profile
Alruba
What is Alruba
Alruba shines white at 533 light-years from the Earth, in the constellation Draco, one of the oldest constellations of the northern hemisphere sky. Its Arabic name means «the filly»: an image of a young, swift, wild animal applied with a certain irony to a distant, modest star with no major visible changes across the long stretch of recorded observation. The light now crossing the European sky left the star when the Catholic Monarchs were preparing their definitive entry into Granada, with no inkling yet that a Genoese sailor would soon offer to cross the ocean for a new route to the Indies.
Where it is and when to see it
Alruba 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.
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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 Alruba
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.75
- Distance
- 533.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 265.997° · Dec 53.802°
- Catalogue
- HIP 86782 · HD 161693
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Draco
Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- EltaninGamma Draco2.24
- AthebyneEta Draco2.73
- RastabanBeta Draco2.79
- HIP 913155.74
- 76 Draco5.75
- HIP 803755.75
- HIP 763765.77
- HIP 777385.81