
Star profile
Epsilon Scutum
What is Epsilon Scutum
Epsilon Scuti dwells in the modest Shield, the constellation that Hevelius christened in 1684 in honour of the Polish king John Sobieski. A yellow type G giant some 538 light-years away, it rests upon one of the densest star fields of the Milky Way, a region so rich that old guides speak of it as a milky treasure. Though its brightness is discreet, it lies very close to the celebrated Scutum Star Cloud, a host of distant suns that only a dark sky reveals.
Where it is and when to see it
Epsilon 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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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 Epsilon Scutum
- Constellation
- Scutum
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.88
- Distance
- 538.3 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 280.880° · Dec -8.275°
- Catalogue
- HIP 91845 · HD 173009
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
- Delta Scutum4.70
- Eta Scutum4.83
- HIP 928145.08
- HIP 911055.12