Epic variable star 70 EP

Barnard's Star

RA 269.4521° · Dec 4.6934° · star

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Score breakdown

· 9 badges

70 pts · Epic

Epic 78 pts → Anomaly

Stellar next door (<10 ly) +25
Has a proper name +8
Deep red star +8
Red dwarf +6
Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
Gently variable +4
A named variable star +3

Total score 70

8 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Stellar next door (<10 ly) · +25
Has a proper name · +8
Cool red M-type star · +5
Deep red star · +8
Red dwarf · +6
Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +6
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What makes it special

Next-door neighbour. One of the closest objects of its kind to the Sun — a first port of call for any interstellar mission we ever build.

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads sdM4 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Where it is in life. It is a subdwarf: an old, metal-poor star from the galaxy's early days, a little smaller and fainter than a main-sequence star of the same colour.
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. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 9.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Ophiuchus.
Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around June — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag: 13.235
bv: 1.57
constellation: Oph
dist ly: 5.9484
luminosity: 0.0004
mag: 9.54
name: Barnard's Star
named: yes
spect: sdM4
var amplitude: 0.1
var designation: V2500
var max: 9.49
var min: 9.59

Nearby objects

About Barnard's Star

Barnard's Star is an epic variable star. It lies about 5.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Oph, shines at apparent magnitude 9.54 and has spectral type sdM4.

One of the closest objects of its kind to the Sun — a first port of call for any interstellar mission we ever build.

How to see it

Look for Barnard's Star in the constellation Oph. At apparent magnitude 9.54, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, Barnard's Star 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 Barnard's Star is an epic variable star

Barnard's Star scores 70 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 9 science badges — Variable star, Stellar next door (<10 ly), Has a proper name, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) and Gently variable — 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.