← Back to dex
Uncommon variable star 22 EP

HD 17084

RA 40.8565° · Dec -37.9285° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5/8V + (G) — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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 8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Fornax.
  • 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 October — 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. ≈ 2.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
4.993
bv
0.745
constellation
For
dist ly
132.6917
luminosity
0.8766
mag
8.04
name
HD 17084
spect
G5/8V + (G)
var amplitude
0.06
var designation
UX
var max
8.015
var min
8.075

About HD 17084

HD 17084 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 132.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation For, shines at apparent magnitude 8.04 and has spectral type G5/8V + (G).

Its spectrum reads G5/8V + (G) — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 17084 in the constellation For. At apparent magnitude 8.04, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 17084 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 17084 is an uncommon variable star

HD 17084 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence 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.