Star profile
HIP 99968
Highly luminous starWhat is HIP 99968
In the heart of the Swan, an orange giant of exceptional luminosity gleams 1,575 light-years away. Its light was born around the year 450, when Attila's Huns were descending into Gaul and the Roman Empire was crumbling. A luminous K of this calibre is already a cosmic grandmother: it has spent its central hydrogen and now swells, multiplying the Sun's brightness hundreds of times over.
Where it is and when to see it
HIP 99968 lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
- From New York it culminates about 90° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 16° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 50° S.
It ranks no. 63 in brightness among the 137 stars of Cygnus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Deneb, the brightest: it lies about 7° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,600 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 HIP 99968
- Constellation
- Cygnus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.27
- Distance
- 1575.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 304.230° · Dec 40.365°
- Catalogue
- HIP 99968 · HD 193092
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Cygnus
Cygnus has 137 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- DenebAlpha Cygni1.25
- SadrGamma Cygni2.23
- AljanahEpsilon Cygni2.48
- 19 Cygni5.18
- 61 Cygni5.20
- 71 Cygni5.22
- HIP 1058985.29
- 70 Cygni5.30