Star profile
Theta Ara
Hot blue starWhat is Theta Ara
Theta Arae burns deep blue from more than eight hundred light-years away, a hot southern beacon that only just clears the threshold of naked-eye visibility. It belongs to the eight stars that draw the outline of the Altar, a constellation the ancient Greeks pictured as the ara on which the gods sealed their pact against the Titans. Its light, set adrift in the Middle Ages, arrives now charged with the silence of the Carina Arm.
Where it is and when to see it
Theta 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 40° N.
It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 43 stars of Ara in our catalogue. To find it, start from Beta Ara, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 810 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 Theta Ara
- Constellation
- Ara
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.65
- Distance
- 813.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 271.658° · Dec -50.091°
- Catalogue
- HIP 88714 · HD 165024
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
- Gamma Ara3.31
- Delta Ara3.60
- Eta Ara3.77
- Epsilon 1 Ara4.06
- Sigma Ara4.56