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Uncommon variable star 32 EP

HD 205526

RA 324.0434° · Dec -13.8684° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Giant star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Giant star · +6
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 1.6 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 M3/M4III — 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 9.3 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 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 1.4) — 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 4020 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-10.69
bv
1.359
constellation
Cap
luminosity
1644371.7232
mag
9.31
name
HD 205526
spect
M3/M4III
var amplitude
0.76
var designation
UU
var max
9.14
var min
9.9

About HD 205526

HD 205526 is an uncommon variable star. It sits in the constellation Cap, shines at apparent magnitude 9.31 and has spectral type M3/M4III.

Its spectrum reads M3/M4III — 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 205526 in the constellation Cap. At apparent magnitude 9.31, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 205526 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 205526 is an uncommon variable star

HD 205526 scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 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, Giant star, Strongly 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.