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Rare variable star 48 EP

37Xi Boo

RA 222.8474° · Dec 19.1005° · star

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges
48 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 48

2 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8V + K4V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
  • It changes. This star does not hold still: its brightness rises and falls on a rhythm of hours, days or years, either pulsing in size or being eclipsed by a companion.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 4.5 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Boötes.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around May — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag
5.406
binary
yes
bv
0.72
constellation
Boo
dist ly
21.8926
luminosity
0.5992
mag
4.54
name
37Xi Boo
spect
G8V + K4V
var amplitude
0.05
var designation
Xi
var max
4.52
var min
4.57

About 37Xi Boo

37Xi Boo is a rare variable star. It lies about 21.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude 4.54 and has spectral type G8V + K4V.

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for 37Xi Boo in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 4.54, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 37Xi Boo is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why 37Xi Boo is a rare variable star

37Xi Boo scores 48 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Variable star, Nearby (<25 ly), Naked-eye visible, Binary star, Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence star, Gently variable and A named variable star — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.