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Rare variable star 35 EP

HIP 21464

RA 69.1414° · Dec -27.5787° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
35 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 35

15 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M7 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • 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 9.8 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Eridanus.
  • 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 November — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 18.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
2.262
bv
1.284
constellation
Eri
dist ly
1035.4158
luminosity
10.8443
mag
9.77
name
HIP 21464
spect
M7
var amplitude
0.62
var designation
UU
var max
9.474
var min
10.094

About HIP 21464

HIP 21464 is a rare variable star. It lies about 1,035.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Eri, shines at apparent magnitude 9.77 and has spectral type M7.

Its spectrum reads M7 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for HIP 21464 in the constellation Eri. At apparent magnitude 9.77, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 21464 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 21464 is a rare variable star

HIP 21464 scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Cool red M-type star, Red dwarf, Strongly 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.