← Back to dex
Epic variable star 56 EP

HD 176200

RA 284.6351° · Dec 14.3638° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 6 badges
56 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Carbon star (sooty red) +24
  • Bright giant +12
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 56

22 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Carbon star (sooty red) · +24
  • Bright giant · +12
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads C6II — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.
  • Where it is in life. It is a bright giant, well on its way to the largest stars there are.
  • 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.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Aquila.
  • 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 July — that's when to go looking.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 2.1) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3070 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-12.01
bv
2.1
constellation
Aql
luminosity
5546257.1296
mag
7.99
name
HD 176200
spect
C6II
var amplitude
0.44
var designation
UV
var max
7.816
var min
8.256

About HD 176200

HD 176200 is an epic variable star. It sits in the constellation Aql, shines at apparent magnitude 7.99 and has spectral type C6II.

Its spectrum reads C6II — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.

How to see it

Look for HD 176200 in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 7.99, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 176200 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 176200 is an epic variable star

HD 176200 scores 56 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 22 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Carbon star (sooty red), Bright giant, Deep red 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.