RA 64.8587° · Dec 21.1423° · star
13 more points to reach Epic.
53 Tau is a rare variable star. It lies about 270 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Tau, shines at apparent magnitude 5.5 and has spectral type B9IV.
Its spectrum reads B9IV — a blue-white B-type star, with a surface tens of thousands of degrees hot and a life measured in tens of millions of years.
Look for 53 Tau in the constellation Tau. At apparent magnitude 5.5, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, 53 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.
53 Tau scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 8 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, On the zodiac, Hot blue B-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), Blue-white 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.