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Common variable star 17 EP

HD 155555

RA 259.3564° · Dec -66.9510° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K1Vp — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • 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. 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 6.9 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Ara.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around June — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
4.382
bv
0.798
constellation
Ara
dist ly
102.5646
luminosity
1.5389
mag
6.87
name
HD 155555
spect
K1Vp
var amplitude
0.12
var designation
V824
var max
6.829
var min
6.949

Nearby objects

About HD 155555

HD 155555 is a common variable star. It lies about 102.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ara, shines at apparent magnitude 6.87 and has spectral type K1Vp.

Its spectrum reads K1Vp — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 155555 in the constellation Ara. At apparent magnitude 6.87, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 155555 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 155555 is a common variable star

HD 155555 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Orange K-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.