Lit Empyrean
Lit Empyrean (#09DEE5) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (182°, 92%, 47%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
The past participle of light — short and modern. Used as a color word since the late twentieth century for hues that read as if they were illuminated. Lit yellow, lit pink: the implication is luminance combined with the slight optical impression of an internal light source. Sits in the bright-bucket extreme alongside electric.
The highest sphere of the medieval European cosmos — beyond the celestial spheres, the abode of light. Empyrean in literary color vocabulary refers to the saturated blue of the highest cloudless sky: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the optical brightness of light scattered through a clean atmosphere.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.