Dave Johnson, “It Came from Krypton”
A prominent astrophysicist has pinned down a real location for Superman’s fictional home planet of Krypton. The celestial sleuthing was performed at the request of DC Comics, which wanted to run a story about Superman’s search for his home planet – Action Comics Superman #14, titled “Star Light, Star Bright”, November 7, 2012.
Krypton is found 27.1 light-years from Earth, in the southern constellation Corvus (The Crow), says Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York City. The planet orbits the red dwarf star LHS 2520, which is cooler and smaller than our sun.
For amateur astronomers who want to spot the real star LHS 2520 in the night sky, here are its coordinates:
Right Ascension: 12 hours 10 minutes 5.77 seconds
Declination: -15 degrees 4 minutes 17.9 seconds
Proper Motion: 0.76 arcseconds per year, along 172.94 degrees from due north