About HR 6120
HR 6120 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Nor, shines at apparent magnitude 6.09 and has spectral type G8Ib.
Its spectrum reads G8Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Rare variable star 44 EP
HR 6120
RA 247.4384° · Dec -57.7563° · star
Score breakdown
· 6 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Supergiant +18
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Deep red star +8
- Variable star +5
- A named variable star +3
- Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 44
6 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Variable star · +5
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Supergiant · +18
- Deep red star · +8
- Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
- A named variable star · +3
Trivia
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a supergiant, hundreds of times wider than the Sun.
- 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 6.1 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Norma.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south 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 deep orange-red (B−V 1.5) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3860 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
Properties
- absmag
- -13.91
- bv
- 1.459
- constellation
- Nor
- luminosity
- 31915378.551
- mag
- 6.09
- name
- HR 6120
- spect
- G8Ib
- var amplitude
- 0.03
- var designation
- V378
- var max
- 6.073
- var min
- 6.103
How to see it
Look for HR 6120 in the constellation Nor. At apparent magnitude 6.09, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HR 6120 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 HR 6120 is a rare variable star
HR 6120 scores 44 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-type star, Supergiant, Deep red star, Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) 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.