Star profile
Chi Octans
Southern polar starWhat is Chi Octans
Chi Octantis burns 257 light-years away within the constellation that holds the south celestial pole —the austral counterpart to Ursa Minor, only far dimmer. An orange K-type giant, it is one of the few clear stars of a field ruled by gloom: there is no southern equivalent to Polaris, and finding the celestial south requires triangulations from the Southern Cross.
Where it is and when to see it
Chi Octans 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: 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 Chi Octans
- Constellation
- Octans
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.29
- Distance
- 256.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 283.698° · Dec -87.606°
- Catalogue
- HIP 92824 · HD 164461
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Octans
Octans has 35 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Nu Octans3.73
- Beta Octans4.13
- Delta Octans4.31
- Alpha Octans5.13
- Lambda Octans5.27
- Gamma 3 Octans5.29
- Xi Octans5.32
- Zeta Octans5.43