Uncommon variable star 25 EP

HD 170757

RA 277.6636° · Dec 12.6112° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges

25 pts · Uncommon

Uncommon 34 pts → Rare

Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Variable star +5
White A-type star +5
Gently variable +4
A named variable star +3
Main-sequence star +2

Total score 25

9 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
White A-type star · +5
Main-sequence star · +2
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A0Vvar — 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.
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 7.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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 June — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

absmag: -0.297
bv: 0.054
constellation: Her
dist ly: 1058.948
luminosity: 114.4986
mag: 7.26
name: HD 170757
spect: A0Vvar
var amplitude: 0.39
var designation: RX
var max: 7.24
var min: 7.63

Nearby objects

About HD 170757

HD 170757 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 1,058.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Her, shines at apparent magnitude 7.26 and has spectral type A0Vvar.

Its spectrum reads A0Vvar — 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 170757 in the constellation Her. At apparent magnitude 7.26, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 170757 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 170757 is an uncommon variable star

HD 170757 scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), White A-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.