Star profile
Cervantes
Mu Ara · Ara
What is Cervantes
Cervantes bears the name of the author of Don Quixote, assigned by the IAU to this yellow star in Ara after an international public vote. Its planetary system hosts worlds called Quijote, Dulcinea, Rocinante and Sancho. At 51 light-years, it is an astronomically close neighbour, and its golden light arrives after a journey of barely half a century, almost a heartbeat on the cosmic clock.
Where it is and when to see it
Cervantes 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 Cervantes
- Constellation
- Ara
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.12
- Distance
- 50.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 266.036° · Dec -51.834°
- Catalogue
- HIP 86796 · HD 160691
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
- Epsilon 1 Ara4.06
- Sigma Ara4.56
- Lambda Ara4.76
- Kappa Ara5.19
- Iota Ara5.21