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Common variable star 19 EP

HD 31993

RA 75.0342° · Dec 3.2867° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
19 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 19

3 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K2 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • 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 7.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Orion.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — 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. ≈ 12.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.756
bv
1.254
constellation
Ori
dist ly
721.5839
luminosity
43.411
mag
7.48
name
HD 31993
spect
K2
var amplitude
0.04
var designation
V1192
var max
7.458
var min
7.498

About HD 31993

HD 31993 is a common variable star. It lies about 721.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 7.48 and has spectral type K2.

Its spectrum reads K2 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 31993 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 7.48, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 31993 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 31993 is a common variable star

HD 31993 scores 19 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, In Orion's hunting ground, Orange K-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.