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Uncommon variable star 29 EP

HIP 84876

RA 260.1923° · Dec -40.3883° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
29 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 29

5 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads N0 — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.
  • 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 9.1 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 June — 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. ≈ 8.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.247
bv
2
constellation
Sco
dist ly
485.3511
luminosity
4.3772
mag
9.11
name
HIP 84876
spect
N0
var amplitude
0.64
var designation
V1079
var max
8.894
var min
9.534

About HIP 84876

HIP 84876 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 485.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sco, shines at apparent magnitude 9.11 and has spectral type N0.

Its spectrum reads N0 — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.

How to see it

Look for HIP 84876 in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 9.11, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 84876 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 84876 is an uncommon variable star

HIP 84876 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Deep red 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.