The AsterNym star registry
Taika
Taika: the pale star of Lacerta
pale · Lacerta · HAT-P-40
Taika is a pale star in the constellation Lacerta, one of the stars with a proper name recognised in the IAU Catalog of Star Names. At magnitude 11.35 it is a binocular or telescope object.
Most stars in the sky are anonymous points of light. Taika is not. Some IAU-recognised names are ancient; others were adopted by the IAU only recently. Either way, the star already has a scientific identity, and a dedication attaches a human story to it.
Real star · Personal dedication · Recorded in the AsterNym registry
See what a dedicated page looks like: preview
Taika at a glance
- Constellation
- Lacerta
- Other name
- HAT-P-40
- Catalogue number
- HAT-P-40
- Distance
- ≈ 1,588 light-years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 11.35 telescope
- Colour
- pale
- Best seen from
- The Northern Hemisphere and lower southern latitudes
- Right ascension
- 22h 22m 03s
- Declination
- +45° 27′ 27″
J2000 catalogue coordinates that can be independently cross-checked against astronomical databases. A planetarium app showing coordinates of date will differ slightly, because proper motion and precession move a star’s apparent position over time.
What kind of star is Taika?
Taika is catalogued as a pale star and its spectral type is not cleanly classified in the data behind this page, so what follows stays with what has been measured rather than what could be inferred from it.
The light you are looking at is old
Taika is about 1,588 light years away, so the light reaching you now set out around 438. You are not looking at the star as it is. You are looking at the star as it was, and there is no way to see it any other way.
That delay is the part people find hardest and like most. A star is the one thing you can give someone that was already old before either of you was born and will outlast anything else you could have chosen.
It sits at the edge of what an unaided eye can do, so finding it is a deliberate act rather than an accident.
What could a Taika dedication represent?
Taika is especially meaningful for someone who:
- · Deserves something older than any gift shop
- · Marks a beginning, an anniversary or a promise
- · Is remembered every time you look up
- · Has a light you want recorded somewhere permanent
Dedication idea
“For the one I think of when I find Lacerta in the sky.”
Where can you see Taika?
It is easy to see from most of the Northern Hemisphere. It can also appear from lower southern latitudes, but it never rises for observers south of about latitude 45°S. It passes directly overhead at latitude 45°N. It stands highest at midnight in August, so August and September evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 11.35 it sits below naked-eye reach; binoculars or a small telescope will find it.
Taika belongs to Lacerta.
What does Taika mean in astrology?
The classical fixed-star tradition: Ptolemy, the medieval Behenian lists, Robson’s 1923 compilation. Is silent on Taika, and we don’t invent lore where none exists. What astrology can still read is the star’s real position, below.
Projected onto the zodiac the way fixed-star astrology reads any star, Taika stands at 1° Aries at the J2000 epoch, and the Sun passes that degree around 22 March in the years around 2000. Fixed-star longitude shifts slowly against the tropical zodiac because of precession, about one degree every seventy-two years, so a natal conjunction must be calculated for the birth year rather than read off this J2000 value or a calendar date.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. The position and dates are computed.
Dedicate Taika to someone who matters
A flower fades. A card is eventually put away. A star gives your message a place in the sky.
from$29.95a year
Dedicate Taika →Real star · your message · a page to share
Your Taika dedication includes
- Your chosen dedication name
- Your personal message
- Taika's real astronomical coordinates
- A shareable dedication page
- Its location on the AsterNym Galaxy Map
- An optional printable certificate and gift presentation
Taika keeps its established astronomical name. Your dedication is a personal commemorative record within the AsterNym registry.
Frequently asked questions about Taika
- What does Taika mean in astrology?
- The classical fixed-star tradition has no documented meaning for Taika. Projected onto the zodiac, Taika stands at 1° Aries, and the Sun passes that degree each year around 22 March.
- Is Taika the brightest star?
- Taika shines at magnitude 11.35 · a binocular-and-telescope star, one of the few thousand stars with an officially recognised name.
- How far away is Taika?
- Taika is approximately 1,588 light-years from Earth. The light reaching us tonight began its journey around 1,588 years ago.
- Which constellation contains Taika?
- Taika is part of Lacerta.
- Can everyone see Taika?
- It is easy to see from most of the Northern Hemisphere. It can also appear from lower southern latitudes, but it never rises for observers south of about latitude 45°S. It passes directly overhead at latitude 45°N. It stands highest at midnight in August, so August and September evenings are the best time to look. At magnitude 11.35 it sits below naked-eye reach; binoculars or a small telescope will find it.
- Is dedicating Taika an official astronomical renaming?
- No. Taika keeps its internationally recognised astronomical name. An AsterNym dedication records your personal name and message in the AsterNym registry without changing the star's scientific identity.
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