Star profile
Lambda Pavonis
Variable starWhat is Lambda Pavonis
Lambda Pavonis is a blue supergiant burning at some 1,430 light-years away in the tail of the southern Peacock. It belongs to the rare Be variables: an enormous, hot star spinning close to its breakup limit, intermittently shedding discs of glowing gas. Its light set out before Europeans had charted Australia's coastlines, and when it reaches our telescopes it tells the story of a sun tens of thousands of times more luminous than our own, living at extreme speed.
Where it is and when to see it
Lambda Pavonis 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 never sets and culminates about 62° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 28° N.
It ranks no. 8 in brightness among the 44 stars of Pavo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Peacock, the brightest: it lies about 13° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,400 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Lambda Pavonis
- Constellation
- Pavo
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.22
- Distance
- 1430.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 283.054° · Dec -62.188°
- Catalogue
- HIP 92609 · HD 173948
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Other stars in Pavo
Pavo has 44 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- PeacockAlpha Pavonis1.94
- Beta Pavonis3.42
- Delta Pavonis3.55
- Epsilon Pavonis3.97
- Zeta Pavonis4.01
- Gamma Pavonis4.21
- Pi Pavonis4.33
- Xi Pavonis4.35