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Rare variable star 42 EP

HD 198373

RA 312.4850° · Dec -5.1467° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
42 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) +20
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 42

8 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) · +20
  • 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 M2e-M5.5e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • 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 Aquarius.
  • 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 August — 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.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4220 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-10.99
bv
1.246
constellation
Aqr
luminosity
2167704.1048
mag
9.01
name
HD 198373
spect
M2e-M5.5e
var amplitude
2.34
var designation
T
var max
8.431
var min
10.771

About HD 198373

HD 198373 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Aqr, shines at apparent magnitude 9.01 and has spectral type M2e-M5.5e.

Its spectrum reads M2e-M5.5e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for HD 198373 in the constellation Aqr. At apparent magnitude 9.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 198373 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 198373 is a rare variable star

HD 198373 scores 42 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Red dwarf, 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.