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Uncommon variable star 26 EP

HD 318064

RA 265.2020° · Dec -31.5422° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Variable star +5
  • White A-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A9: — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
  • 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 11.5 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. ≈ 9.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.461
constellation
Sco
dist ly
531.1985
luminosity
0.5696
mag
11.52
name
HD 318064
spect
A9:
var amplitude
0.98
var designation
V494
var max
10.845
var min
11.825

About HD 318064

HD 318064 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 531.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sco, shines at apparent magnitude 11.52 and has spectral type A9:.

Its spectrum reads A9: — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.

How to see it

Look for HD 318064 in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 11.52, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 318064 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 318064 is an uncommon variable star

HD 318064 scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, White A-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.