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Rare variable star 34 EP

HD 209460

RA 330.9131° · Dec -7.7846° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
34 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 34

16 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 4.7 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 M... — 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 8.1 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.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.6) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3660 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-11.86
bv
1.59
constellation
Aqr
luminosity
4830588.0204
mag
8.14
name
HD 209460
spect
M...
var amplitude
0.12
var designation
KM
var max
8.077
var min
8.197

About HD 209460

HD 209460 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Aqr, shines at apparent magnitude 8.14 and has spectral type M....

Its spectrum reads M... — 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 209460 in the constellation Aqr. At apparent magnitude 8.14, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 209460 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 209460 is a rare variable star

HD 209460 scores 34 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 16 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, Deep red star, Red dwarf, 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.