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Rare variable star 46 EP

HIP 91911

RA 281.0548° · Dec -3.7994° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
46 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Wolf-Rayet star (shedding itself) +34
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 46

4 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Wolf-Rayet star (shedding itself) · +34
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads WC... — a Wolf-Rayet star: a stellar monster shedding its own outer layers in a ferocious wind, on its way to a supernova.
  • 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 11.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Aquila.
  • 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 July — 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. ≈ 7.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
6.389
bv
1.4
constellation
Aql
dist ly
420.3042
luminosity
0.2423
mag
11.94
name
HIP 91911
spect
WC...
var amplitude
0.41
var designation
V1485
var max
11.824
var min
12.234

About HIP 91911

HIP 91911 is a rare variable star. It lies about 420.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aql, shines at apparent magnitude 11.94 and has spectral type WC....

Its spectrum reads WC... — a Wolf-Rayet star: a stellar monster shedding its own outer layers in a ferocious wind, on its way to a supernova.

How to see it

Look for HIP 91911 in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 11.94, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 91911 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 91911 is a rare variable star

HIP 91911 scores 46 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Wolf-Rayet star (shedding itself), 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.