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Uncommon variable star 31 EP

44 Tau

RA 62.7078° · Dec 26.4810° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
31 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Yellow-white F-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 31

3 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Yellow-white F-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads F2IV-V — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.
  • 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 5.4 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Taurus.
  • 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.

Properties

absmag
1.396
bv
0.352
constellation
Tau
dist ly
205.2588
luminosity
24.0769
mag
5.39
name
44 Tau
spect
F2IV-V
var amplitude
0.1
var designation
IM
var max
5.339
var min
5.439

About 44 Tau

44 Tau is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 205.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Tau, shines at apparent magnitude 5.39 and has spectral type F2IV-V.

Its spectrum reads F2IV-V — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.

How to see it

Look for 44 Tau in the constellation Tau. At apparent magnitude 5.39, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 44 Tau 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 44 Tau is an uncommon variable star

44 Tau scores 31 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, On the zodiac, Yellow-white F-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), 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.