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Epic variable star 66 EP

HIP 102082

RA 310.3261° · Dec 48.1413° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
66 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Carbon star (sooty red) +24
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) +20
  • Deep red star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 66

12 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Carbon star (sooty red) · +24
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) · +20
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads C7.4e — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.
  • 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 9.1 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cygnus.
  • 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.

Could we get there?

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

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 21 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.291
bv
2.45
constellation
Cyg
dist ly
1194.7107
luminosity
26.5216
mag
9.11
name
HIP 102082
spect
C7.4e
var amplitude
2.22
var designation
V
var max
8.284
var min
10.504

About HIP 102082

HIP 102082 is an epic variable star. It lies about 1,194.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cyg, shines at apparent magnitude 9.11 and has spectral type C7.4e.

Its spectrum reads C7.4e — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.

How to see it

Look for HIP 102082 in the constellation Cyg. At apparent magnitude 9.11, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 102082 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 102082 is an epic variable star

HIP 102082 scores 66 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Carbon star (sooty red), Deep red star, Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) 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.