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Uncommon variable star 23 EP

HD 197187

RA 310.6657° · Dec -18.1097° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Variable star +5
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Yellow-white F-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Yellow-white F-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads F2IV/V — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.
  • 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 7.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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 August — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

absmag
0.658
bv
0.347
constellation
Cap
dist ly
704.4405
luminosity
47.5116
mag
7.33
name
HD 197187
spect
F2IV/V
var amplitude
0.07
var designation
BL
var max
7.296
var min
7.366

About HD 197187

HD 197187 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 704.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cap, shines at apparent magnitude 7.33 and has spectral type F2IV/V.

Its spectrum reads F2IV/V — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 197187 in the constellation Cap. At apparent magnitude 7.33, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 197187 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 197187 is an uncommon variable star

HD 197187 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Yellow-white F-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), 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.