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Epic variable star 73 EP

HR 85

RA 5.4428° · Dec -20.0580° · star

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges
73 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Supergiant +18
  • Fades out of naked-eye view +16
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 73

5 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Supergiant · +18
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • Fades out of naked-eye view · +16
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5/M6Ib/II — 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 5.6 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Cetus.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south 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. ≈ 15.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
-1.549
bv
1.58
constellation
Cet
dist ly
881.5028
luminosity
362.7438
mag
5.61
name
HR 85
spect
M5/M6Ib/II
var amplitude
0.66
var designation
T
var max
5.341
var min
6.001

About HR 85

HR 85 is an epic variable star. It lies about 881.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cet, shines at apparent magnitude 5.61 and has spectral type M5/M6Ib/II.

Its spectrum reads M5/M6Ib/II — 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 85 in the constellation Cet. At apparent magnitude 5.61, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, HR 85 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 85 is an epic variable star

HR 85 scores 73 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Cool red M-type star, Supergiant, Deep red star, Strongly variable, Fades out of naked-eye view 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.