Star profile

Pi Fornax

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Pi Fornax

Pi Fornacis is a yellow giant 294 light-years away, with a mass barely larger than the Sun's but a radius that has grown to nine times solar after three billion years of evolution. It belongs to Fornax, one of the southern constellations Lacaille devised in honour of the tools of science: here, the chemist's laboratory leans into the night sky.

Where it is and when to see it

Pi Fornax lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 8° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 86° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 60° N.

It ranks no. 9 in brightness among the 26 stars of Fornax in our catalogue. To find it, start from Dalim, the brightest: it lies about 15° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 290 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

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Leave your signature on Pi Fornax

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

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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 Pi Fornax

Constellation: Fornax
Apparent magnitude: 5.34
Distance: 294.4 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 30.311° · Dec -30.002°
Catalogue: HIP 9440 · HD 12438

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

Other stars in Fornax

Fornax has 26 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 26 stars in Fornax