About HD 212466
HD 212466 is an epic variable star. It sits in the constellation Cep, shines at apparent magnitude 6.44 and has spectral type G8Iavar.
Its spectrum reads G8Iavar — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Epic variable star 50 EP
HD 212466
RA 335.7792° · Dec 55.9632° · star
Score breakdown
· 7 badgesEpic 78 pts → Anomaly
- Supergiant +18
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Deep red star +8
- Variable star +5
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
- Gently variable +4
- A named variable star +3
Total score 50
28 more points to reach Anomaly.
Badges
- Variable star · +5
- Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Supergiant · +18
- Deep red star · +8
- Gently variable · +4
- A named variable star · +3
Trivia
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8Iavar — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a luminous supergiant — among the largest and rarest stars in the galaxy.
- 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 6.4 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Cepheus.
- Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north 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 deep orange-red (B−V 2.2) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 2960 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
Properties
- absmag
- -13.56
- bv
- 2.215
- constellation
- Cep
- luminosity
- 23120647.9018
- mag
- 6.44
- name
- HD 212466
- spect
- G8Iavar
- var amplitude
- 0.16
- var designation
- RW
- var max
- 6.351
- var min
- 6.511
Nearby objects
How to see it
Look for HD 212466 in the constellation Cep. At apparent magnitude 6.44, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HD 212466 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 212466 is an epic variable star
HD 212466 scores 50 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 28 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Sun-like G-type star, Supergiant, Deep red 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.