Star profile
17 Lyrae
What is 17 Lyrae
17 Lyrae is a multiple system about 143 light-years away, set within the small Lyra that hosts Vega. Its primary is an F0 main-sequence star, 60% more massive than the Sun and sixteen times brighter, locked in a 42.9-day spectroscopic orbit with an unseen companion. A second star, barely two and a half arcseconds away, completes the telescopic pair. What looks like a single point of light is, up close, a knot of suns.
Where it is and when to see it
17 Lyrae lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 71° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 82° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 24° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 57° S.
It ranks no. 17 in brightness among the 37 stars of Lyra in our catalogue. To find it, start from Vega, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 140 years ago.
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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 17 Lyrae
- Constellation
- Lyra
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.20
- Distance
- 135.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 286.857° · Dec 32.502°
- Catalogue
- HIP 93917 · HD 178449
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Other stars in Lyra
Lyra has 37 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- VegaAlpha Lyrae0.03
- SulafatGamma Lyrae3.25
- SheliakBeta Lyrae3.52
- 16 Lyrae5.00
- Mu Lyrae5.11
- HIP 930175.20
- Nu 2 Lyrae5.22
- Iota Lyrae5.25