Star profile
Iota 2 Scorpii
Highly luminous starWhat is Iota 2 Scorpii
Iota-2 Scorpii is a luminous rarity: a blue-white supergiant burning with nearly six thousand times the Sun's light. Despite lying immensely far —over two and a half thousand light-years deep in Scorpius— it remains visible to the naked eye. Its light, which left before the rise of Christianity, has travelled silently ever since.
Where it is and when to see it
Iota 2 Scorpii 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 culminates about 9° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 50° N.
It ranks no. 30 in brightness among the 104 stars of Scorpius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Antares, the brightest: it lies about 22° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 2,500 years ago.
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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 Iota 2 Scorpii
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.78
- Distance
- 2548.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 267.546° · Dec -40.090°
- Catalogue
- HIP 87294 · HD 161912
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Scorpius
Scorpius has 104 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AntaresAlpha Scorpii1.06
- ShaulaLambda Scorpii1.62
- SargasTheta Scorpii1.86
- 2 Scorpii4.59
- 1 Scorpii4.63
- Zeta 1 Scorpii4.70
- 22 Scorpii4.79
- HIP 872204.79