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Rare variable star 46 EP

HD 175514

RA 283.8464° · Dec 9.3467° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
46 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Blazing O-type star +26
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 46

4 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Blazing O-type star · +26
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads O8:Vnn — an O-type star — the hottest, rarest main class there is. Fewer than one star in a million is an O, and none of them lasts long.
  • 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 8.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 21.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.763
bv
0.51
constellation
Aql
dist ly
1199.1031
luminosity
43.132
mag
8.59
name
HD 175514
spect
O8:Vnn
var amplitude
0.17
var designation
V1182
var max
8.544
var min
8.714

About HD 175514

HD 175514 is a rare variable star. It lies about 1,199.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aql, shines at apparent magnitude 8.59 and has spectral type O8:Vnn.

Its spectrum reads O8:Vnn — an O-type star — the hottest, rarest main class there is. Fewer than one star in a million is an O, and none of them lasts long.

How to see it

Look for HD 175514 in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 8.59, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 175514 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 175514 is a rare variable star

HD 175514 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 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Blazing O-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.