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Rare variable star 47 EP

HIP 12416

RA 39.9602° · Dec 59.5976° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
47 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Supergiant +18
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 47

3 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Supergiant · +18
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 1.5 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 M2Iab — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is a supergiant. Drop it where the Sun is and its surface would engulf the inner planets.
  • 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 9.4 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 October — 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 2.4) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

Properties

absmag
-10.59
bv
2.413
constellation
Cas
luminosity
1499684.8355
mag
9.41
name
HIP 12416
spect
M2Iab
var amplitude
0.27
var designation
GP
var max
9.263
var min
9.533

About HIP 12416

HIP 12416 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Cas, shines at apparent magnitude 9.41 and has spectral type M2Iab.

Its spectrum reads M2Iab — 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 HIP 12416 in the constellation Cas. At apparent magnitude 9.41, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 12416 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 HIP 12416 is a rare variable star

HIP 12416 scores 47 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Cool red M-type star, Supergiant, 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.