Star

AG Carinae

Also AG Car · HD 94910

A luminous blue variable star surrounded by a shell of gas it threw off thousands of years ago.

Measured

Distance
about 16,940 light-years (published estimates 15,610–18,530)
Constellation
Carina
Position (J2000)
RA 10h 56m 11s, Dec −60.45°

How far, from the Sun

About 16,900 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light16,900 years
  • Voyager 1's speed301 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h183 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way, shining like about a million Suns.
  • Its distance comes from a Gaia parallax: the tiny yearly shift in its position as the Earth circles the Sun.

Where this comes from

  • Gaia DR3 parallax 0.1925 ± 0.0165 mas, Gaia DR3 5338220285385672064 (Gaia Collaboration 2023, A&A 674, A1)
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.