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Uncommon variable star 29 EP

HD 12208

RA 30.4961° · Dec 61.9050° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
29 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Gently variable +4
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 29

5 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K5V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • 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.

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 7.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Cassiopeia.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around October — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
0.242
bv
1.685
constellation
Cas
dist ly
905.989
luminosity
69.6947
mag
7.46
name
HD 12208
spect
K5V
var amplitude
0.12
var designation
V598
var max
7.412
var min
7.532

About HD 12208

HD 12208 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 906 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cas, shines at apparent magnitude 7.46 and has spectral type K5V.

Its spectrum reads K5V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 12208 in the constellation Cas. At apparent magnitude 7.46, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 12208 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 12208 is an uncommon variable star

HD 12208 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Orange K-type star, Main-sequence 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.