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Uncommon variable star 31 EP

HD 224186

RA 358.9778° · Dec 15.2303° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
31 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 31

3 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

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

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M3 — 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.

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 Pegasus.
  • 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 September — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 11.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
-0.086
bv
1.56
constellation
Peg
dist ly
661.5742
luminosity
94.2758
mag
6.45
name
HD 224186
spect
M3
var amplitude
0.14
var designation
V363
var max
6.355
var min
6.495

About HD 224186

HD 224186 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 661.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Peg, shines at apparent magnitude 6.45 and has spectral type M3.

Its spectrum reads M3 — 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 224186 in the constellation Peg. At apparent magnitude 6.45, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 224186 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 224186 is an uncommon variable star

HD 224186 scores 31 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, 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.