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Rare variable star 39 EP

HD 141678

RA 237.2230° · Dec 36.2479° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
39 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) +20
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 39

11 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) · +20
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 328.1 thousand times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5e-M7e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • 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.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 11 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Corona Borealis.
  • 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.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out orange (B−V 1) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4660 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-8.96
bv
1.036
constellation
CrB
luminosity
334195.04
mag
11.04
name
HD 141678
spect
M5e-M7e
var amplitude
3.56
var designation
X
var max
9.504
var min
13.064

About HD 141678

HD 141678 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation CrB, shines at apparent magnitude 11.04 and has spectral type M5e-M7e.

Its spectrum reads M5e-M7e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for HD 141678 in the constellation CrB. At apparent magnitude 11.04, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 141678 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 HD 141678 is a rare variable star

HD 141678 scores 39 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Cool red M-type star, Red dwarf, Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) 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.