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Rare variable star 48 EP

HR 9047

RA 358.6943° · Dec 0.1093° · star

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges
48 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Bright giant +12
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 48

2 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Bright giant · +12
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5IIb — 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 bright giant, well on its way to the largest stars there are.
  • 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 5.8 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Pisces.
  • 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 September — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
-0.674
bv
1.466
constellation
Psc
dist ly
637.0234
luminosity
162.0317
mag
5.78
name
HR 9047
spect
M5IIb
var amplitude
0.2
var designation
XZ
var max
5.651
var min
5.851

About HR 9047

HR 9047 is a rare variable star. It lies about 637 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Psc, shines at apparent magnitude 5.78 and has spectral type M5IIb.

Its spectrum reads M5IIb — 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 HR 9047 in the constellation Psc. At apparent magnitude 5.78, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, HR 9047 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 HR 9047 is a rare variable star

HR 9047 scores 48 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Bright giant, 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.