La Superba
HR 4846 · HIP 62223 · Y CVn
👁️ Naked-eye
📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.
Star
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.87 mag
- Parallax
- 3.12 mas → about 1,045.4 light-years away
- Spectral type
- C7Iab
- Right ascension
- 191.2826°
- Declination
- 45.4403°
- Designation
- HR 4846
- Bayer designation
- Y CVn
- HIP number
- 62223
- IAU name adopted
- 2018-08-10
- Name language
- Latin
- Name origin (IAU)
- In 1868 Secchi used "superba" as an adjective to describe the star Y CVn, not as a proper name of the star. However, in 1876 Birmingham seems to have borrowed from Secchi this term and used it as a proper name of the star. As a consequence, in 1877 Secchi himself adopted the same name. Agnes Clerke attributed the term to Secchi, without distinguishing between the adjective and the name. In principle, it should be attributed to both Secchi and Birmingham, in my opinion.
Source:IAU Working Group on Star Names · checked 2026-11-02 ↗ESA Hipparcos Catalogue (ESA Gaia Archive) · checked 2026-11-03 ↗
Related
Constellation
In everyday life
- Light from this object takes about 1,045 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 981 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
- At magnitude 4.9 it is bright enough for the naked eye (limit about 6) — look from somewhere dark.
- Declination 45.4° — it rises above the horizon in Seoul (37.6° N), so it is visible from Korea in the right season.
Worked out from this object's official values.