About HD 195040
HD 195040 is an uncommon variable star. It sits in the constellation Cap, shines at apparent magnitude 9.01 and has spectral type G6III/IV.
Its spectrum reads G6III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Uncommon variable star 29 EP
HD 195040
RA 307.4036° · Dec -21.1263° · star
Score breakdown
· 6 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Giant star +6
- Variable star +5
- Gently variable +4
- On the zodiac +3
- A named variable star +3
Total score 29
5 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Variable star · +5
- On the zodiac · +3
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Giant star · +6
- Gently variable · +4
- A named variable star · +3
Trivia
Hard to believe
- True brightness. It pours out about 2.1 million times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G6III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a giant. It has already exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen up enormously in response.
- 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 9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Capricornus.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south 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 orange (B−V 1.2) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.
Properties
- absmag
- -10.99
- bv
- 1.165
- constellation
- Cap
- luminosity
- 2167704.1048
- mag
- 9.01
- name
- HD 195040
- spect
- G6III/IV
- var amplitude
- 0.07
- var designation
- AT
- var max
- 8.967
- var min
- 9.037
How to see it
Look for HD 195040 in the constellation Cap. At apparent magnitude 9.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HD 195040 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 195040 is an uncommon variable star
HD 195040 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Sun-like G-type star, Giant 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.