About HIP 81272
HIP 81272 is a common variable star. It sits in the constellation Her, shines at apparent magnitude 9.05 and has spectral type F8v.
Its spectrum reads F8v — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.
Common variable star 21 EP
HIP 81272
RA 248.9887° · Dec 37.9673° · star
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Strongly variable +10
- Variable star +5
- Yellow-white F-type star +3
- A named variable star +3
Total score 21
1 more point to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Variable star · +5
- Yellow-white F-type star · +3
- Strongly variable · +10
- A named variable star · +3
Trivia
Hard to believe
- True brightness. It pours out about 2.1 million 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 F8v — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the 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.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 9.1 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Hercules.
- 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 yellow-white (B−V 0.5) — a shade brighter and crisper than our own Sun.
Properties
- absmag
- -10.95
- bv
- 0.534
- constellation
- Her
- luminosity
- 2089296.1309
- mag
- 9.05
- name
- HIP 81272
- spect
- F8v
- var amplitude
- 0.56
- var designation
- UU
- var max
- 8.772
- var min
- 9.332
How to see it
Look for HIP 81272 in the constellation Her. At apparent magnitude 9.05, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HIP 81272 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 HIP 81272 is a common variable star
HIP 81272 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Yellow-white F-type star, Strongly 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.