Achernar
Where is Achernar?
Below the horizon from London all the time in Eridanus.
- Rises
- Never
- Highest
- —
- Sets
- —
- Best after dark
- —
Can I see Achernar tonight?
Achernar never rises from London: it is too far south in the sky for this latitude.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Achernar look like?
Achernar looks blue-white to the eye. Its spectral type is B6Vpe: hot blue-white main-sequence star (much hotter than the Sun).
Eyes
A bright blue-white star in a fairly empty part of the southern sky.
Binoculars
A bright blue-white point.
Telescope
A point of light. Its flattened shape can only be measured with special instruments.
About Achernar
Achernar marks the southern end of Eridanus, the River, a long, winding constellation. Its name comes from the Arabic for “the end of the river”.
It is a hot blue-white star about 140 light-years away. Achernar spins extremely fast, so fast that it bulges at its equator and is one of the most flattened stars known.
Achernar lies far south in the sky, so it is a familiar sight only from southern latitudes.
Achernar is several times the mass of the Sun and thousands of times as luminous. Its rapid spin makes its equator much wider than the distance from pole to pole, and from time to time it throws off a disk of gas around its equator.
A smaller companion star orbits close to it.
In ancient times the River ended at a fainter star farther north. The name Achernar moved to this bright star when Europeans charted the far southern sky.
Achernar in Eridanus
Questions
Why is Achernar flattened?
Can I see Achernar from the Northern Hemisphere?
Sources: SkyMate; Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences