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Common variable star 20 EP

HD 2342

RA 6.8820° · Dec 35.5874° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads N0v — 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 7.7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Andromeda.
  • 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 2.1) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3070 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-12.33
bv
2.1
constellation
And
luminosity
7447319.7391
mag
7.67
name
HD 2342
spect
N0v
var amplitude
0.41
var designation
AQ
var max
7.493
var min
7.903

About HD 2342

HD 2342 is a common variable star. It sits in the constellation And, shines at apparent magnitude 7.67 and has spectral type N0v.

Its spectrum reads N0v — 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 2342 in the constellation And. At apparent magnitude 7.67, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 2342 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 2342 is a common variable star

HD 2342 scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, 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.