
Star profile
Delta Scutum
Variable starWhat is Delta Scutum
Delta Scuti gives its name to an entire class of variable stars: the pulsating Delta Scuti family of white or yellow-white giants that beat with periods of hours, contracting and expanding in radial and non-radial oscillations. This is the prototype star, the one that defined the family. At 200 light-years away, in the small constellation of the Shield, its brightness varies softly every four and a half hours, like a cosmic heartbeat.
Where it is and when to see it
Delta Scutum lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July: 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 Delta Scutum
- Constellation
- Scutum
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.70
- Distance
- 202.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 280.568° · Dec -9.053°
- Catalogue
- HIP 91726 · HD 172748
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Scutum
Scutum has 18 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Scutum3.85
- Beta Scutum4.22
- Zeta Scutum4.66
- Gamma Scutum4.67
- Eta Scutum4.83
- Epsilon Scutum4.88
- HIP 928145.08
- HIP 911055.12