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Uncommon variable star 26 EP

HD 220140

RA 349.8589° · Dec 79.0035° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • 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 G9V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
  • 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. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 7.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Cepheus.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
6.113
bv
0.893
constellation
Cep
dist ly
62.6379
luminosity
0.3125
mag
7.53
name
HD 220140
spect
G9V
var amplitude
0.07
var designation
V368
var max
7.486
var min
7.556

About HD 220140

HD 220140 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 62.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cep, shines at apparent magnitude 7.53 and has spectral type G9V.

Its spectrum reads G9V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 220140 in the constellation Cep. At apparent magnitude 7.53, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 220140 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 220140 is an uncommon variable star

HD 220140 scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), 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.