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Uncommon variable star 23 EP

HD 149313

RA 248.9528° · Dec -42.1229° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Hot blue B-type star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Hot blue B-type star · +6
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads B1:Ve — a blue-white B-type star, with a surface tens of thousands of degrees hot and a life measured in tens of millions of years.
  • 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. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 9.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Scorpius.
  • 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.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 14.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
2.445
bv
0.499
constellation
Sco
dist ly
817.4337
luminosity
9.1622
mag
9.44
name
HD 149313
spect
B1:Ve
var amplitude
0.27
var designation
V1059
var max
9.264
var min
9.534

About HD 149313

HD 149313 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 817.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sco, shines at apparent magnitude 9.44 and has spectral type B1:Ve.

Its spectrum reads B1:Ve — a blue-white B-type star, with a surface tens of thousands of degrees hot and a life measured in tens of millions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 149313 in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 9.44, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 149313 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 149313 is an uncommon variable star

HD 149313 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Hot blue B-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.