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Star profile

Alpha Hydrus

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Alpha Hydrus

Alpha Hydri presides over the small southern constellation of the Male Water Snake, charted by Dutch navigators at the close of the sixteenth century. A type F subgiant some 72 light-years away —practically a neighbour by galactic standards— it shines with a creamy white light slightly warmer than the Sun. It is crossing the phase in which its hydrogen core has been exhausted, foreshadowing the fate that awaits Sun-like stars billions of years from now.

Where it is and when to see it

Alpha Hydrus lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September: 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.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

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

If you don't have an account yet, we'll ask for an email to confirm it's you: we send you a link and that's it, no password.

Write my signature

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 Alpha Hydrus

Constellation
Hydrus
Apparent magnitude
2.86
Distance
71.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 29.692° · Dec -61.570°
Catalogue
HIP 9236 · HD 12311

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Hydrus

Hydrus has 20 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 20 stars in Hydrus