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Uncommon variable star 23 EP

HIP 16090

RA 51.8098° · Dec 27.3857° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

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

Trivia

What it actually is

  • 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. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 11.8 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Aries.
  • 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. ≈ 1.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 153.2 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
9.388
bv
1.476
constellation
Ari
dist ly
98.1214
luminosity
0.0153
mag
11.78
name
HIP 16090
var amplitude
0.25
var designation
CK
var max
11.616
var min
11.866

About HIP 16090

HIP 16090 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 98.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ari and shines at apparent magnitude 11.78.

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.

How to see it

Look for HIP 16090 in the constellation Ari. At apparent magnitude 11.78, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 16090 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 16090 is an uncommon variable star

HIP 16090 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, 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.