Aspidiske (Iota Carinae)
Aspidiske (Iota Carinae) is a star in the constellation Carina, magnitude 2.3.
The little shield of the ship Argo — a white supergiant and a future south pole star.
Aspidiske means “little shield” in Greek, a translation of the Arabic turais; the Latin version is Scutulum. It rides on the old ship Argo, in the part now called Carina, the keel, and marks one corner of the False Cross.
It is a white supergiant about seven times the Sun’s mass, swollen to roughly 50 times its width and shining 4,900 times as brightly. Having used up the hydrogen in its core, it is now crossing quickly towards the red supergiant stage — a short-lived phase in which few stars are caught.
It is not quite heavy enough to explode. Instead it will most likely end as a white dwarf of about the Sun’s mass, much like Sirius B. Before then, precession will carry the south celestial pole close by, making Aspidiske a South Star around AD 8100.
Aspidiske (Iota Carinae) is 770 light-years away: the light we see from it set off around 1255, 200 years before Gutenberg printed his Bible.
Did you know?
- A misleading cross. With Delta and Kappa Velorum and Epsilon Carinae it makes the False Cross. Navigators who took it for the Southern Cross went astray.
- Sea Rock. In Chinese astronomy it is Hǎi Shí èr, the Second Star of the Sea Rock.
A white 2nd-magnitude star at the south-east corner of the False Cross, diagonally opposite Delta Velorum. Compare the pattern with the true Southern Cross farther east, which is smaller and brighter.
When and where to see it
It is best placed in the evening sky around March, when it crosses the meridian at about 10 pm local time (around midnight in February). It can be seen from everywhere south of 31°N and never sets south of 31°S.
At its highest it stands below the horizon from 50°N, below the horizon from 35°N, 31° up from the equator, 66° up from 35°S.
Facts
- Type
- Star
- Constellation
- Carina
- Designations
- Iota Carinae, ι Car, HR 3699, HD 80404, HIP 45556
- Magnitude
- 2.3
- Position
- RA 9h 17.1m, Dec −59° 16′ (J2000)
- Spectral type
- A7Ib
- Colour
- yellow-white (B−V 0.18)
- Distance
- 770 light-years
- Discovered
- Known since antiquity
Open AstroPilot to see when Aspidiske (Iota Carinae) is highest tonight from your location, how easy it is with your telescope or binoculars, and an eyepiece view.