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Uncommon variable star 22 EP

HD 197388

RA 312.5179° · Dec -75.9102° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G2/G3V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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 9.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Octans.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • 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.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 8.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.442
bv
0.677
constellation
Oct
dist ly
466.6037
luminosity
3.6576
mag
9.22
name
HD 197388
spect
G2/G3V
var amplitude
0.12
var designation
DU
var max
9.171
var min
9.291

About HD 197388

HD 197388 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 466.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Oct, shines at apparent magnitude 9.22 and has spectral type G2/G3V.

Its spectrum reads G2/G3V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 197388 in the constellation Oct. At apparent magnitude 9.22, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 197388 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 197388 is an uncommon variable star

HD 197388 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence 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.