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Rare variable star 40 EP

HD 207076

RA 326.6327° · Dec -2.2128° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
40 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Deep red star +8
  • Giant star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 40

10 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Giant star · +6
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M8IIIvar — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is a giant. It has already exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen up enormously in response.
  • 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 6.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
1.242
bv
1.47
constellation
Aqr
dist ly
370.6319
luminosity
27.746
mag
6.52
name
HD 207076
spect
M8IIIvar
var amplitude
0.75
var designation
EP
var max
6.054
var min
6.804

About HD 207076

HD 207076 is a rare variable star. It lies about 370.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aqr, shines at apparent magnitude 6.52 and has spectral type M8IIIvar.

Its spectrum reads M8IIIvar — 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 207076 in the constellation Aqr. At apparent magnitude 6.52, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 207076 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 207076 is a rare variable star

HD 207076 scores 40 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Giant star, Deep red 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.