Stars visible to the naked eye
Every star in the HYG stellar database with apparent visual magnitude 6.5 or brighter, roughly the limit of naked-eye visibility under a dark sky. One row per star, with name, constellation, brightness, distance, spectral type and position.
Columns
Stable keys — use them in the API, SQL and code
| Key | Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| hyg_id | HYG ID | integer | HYG database primary key. |
| name | Star | string | IAU proper name if the star has one, otherwise its Bayer/Flamsteed designation or catalogue number. |
| proper_name | Proper name | string | IAU-approved proper name, where one exists. |
| designation | Bayer / Flamsteed | string | Flamsteed number and/or Bayer letter plus constellation abbreviation, e.g. 58 α Ori. |
| constellation | Constellation | string | IAU constellation the star lies in. |
| constellation_abbr | Const. abbr. | string | IAU three-letter constellation abbreviation. |
| apparent_magnitude | Apparent magnitude | number · mag | Brightness as seen from Earth (visual band). Lower is brighter; about 6.5 is the naked-eye limit. |
| absolute_magnitude | Absolute magnitude | number · mag | Brightness the star would have at a distance of 10 parsecs; measures true luminosity. |
| distance_pc | Distance | number · pc | Distance from the Sun in parsecs. |
| distance_ly | Distance (ly) | number · ly | Distance from the Sun in light-years (1 pc = 3.2616 ly). |
| spectral_type | Spectral type | string | Spectral classification, e.g. G2V (Sun-like dwarf) or M2Ib (red supergiant). |
| color_index | Colour index (B−V) | number · mag | Blue minus visual magnitude; negative is blue-white, around 0.65 is Sun-like yellow, above 1.4 is red. |
| luminosity_solar | Luminosity | number · L☉ | Luminosity in multiples of the Sun's, derived by HYG from absolute magnitude. |
| ra_deg | RA | number · ° | Right ascension (J2000) in decimal degrees. |
| dec_deg | Dec | number · ° | Declination (J2000) in decimal degrees. |
| hip | HIP | integer | Hipparcos catalogue number. |
| hd | HD | integer | Henry Draper catalogue number. |
| hr | HR | integer | Harvard Revised / Yale Bright Star Catalogue number. |
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