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Common variable star 18 EP

HD 20891

RA 50.8005° · Dec 33.0784° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
18 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 18

4 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G0 — 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 Perseus.
  • 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 November — 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. ≈ 6.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
2.587
bv
0.598
constellation
Per
dist ly
387.3585
luminosity
8.039
mag
7.96
name
HD 20891
spect
G0
var amplitude
0.03
var designation
V687
var max
7.946
var min
7.976

About HD 20891

HD 20891 is a common variable star. It lies about 387.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Per, shines at apparent magnitude 7.96 and has spectral type G0.

Its spectrum reads G0 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 20891 in the constellation Per. At apparent magnitude 7.96, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 20891 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 20891 is a common variable star

HD 20891 scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-type star, Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) 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.