Rare variable star 48 EP

HD 1994

RA 6.1453° · Dec 54.2940° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges

48 pts · Rare

Rare 50 pts → Epic

Carbon star (sooty red) +24
Deep red star +8
Variable star +5
Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
Gently variable +4
A named variable star +3

Total score 48

2 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
Carbon star (sooty red) · +24
Deep red star · +8
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 1.7 million times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads C4.5v — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.
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.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 9.3 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cassiopeia.
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.

Its true colour

Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.8) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

Properties

absmag: -10.74
bv: 1.81
constellation: Cas
luminosity: 1721868.575
mag: 9.26
name: HD 1994
spect: C4.5v
var amplitude: 0.18
var designation: NQ
var max: 9.166
var min: 9.346

Nearby objects

About HD 1994

HD 1994 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Cas, shines at apparent magnitude 9.26 and has spectral type C4.5v.

Its spectrum reads C4.5v — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.

How to see it

Look for HD 1994 in the constellation Cas. At apparent magnitude 9.26, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 1994 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 1994 is a rare variable star

HD 1994 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 6 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Carbon star (sooty red), 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.