Alphard
Orange giant · Alpha Hydrae
Brightest star in Hydra, the largest constellation
The solitary bright heart of Hydra, the sky's largest constellation, Alphard is an aging orange giant whose name means "the solitary one" for its isolation in a dim region of sky. It shows mild brightness variability and barium enrichment in its atmosphere.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
3.2 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
971 ×
as bright as the Sun
4,095 K
surface · orange
58 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
177 ly
from Earth
2.0
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 971 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 177 years to reach us, so you see Alphard as it was 177 years ago.
Source · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
AchernarBlue-white main-sequence star1 thousand ×PolarisYellow supergiant Cepheid variable1 thousand ×AlbireoOrange bright giant1 thousand ×AldebaranOrange giant439 ×RegulusBlue-white main-sequence star341 ×ArcturusOrange giant215 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→