← Back to dex
Common variable star 18 EP

HD 33798

RA 78.8143° · Dec 47.1707° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 4 badges
18 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 18

4 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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 6.9 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Auriga.
  • 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 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. ≈ 6.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.615
bv
0.982
constellation
Aur
dist ly
373.6035
luminosity
19.6789
mag
6.91
name
HD 33798
spect
G5
var amplitude
0.05
var designation
V390
var max
6.891
var min
6.941

About HD 33798

HD 33798 is a common variable star. It lies about 373.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aur, shines at apparent magnitude 6.91 and has spectral type G5.

Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 33798 in the constellation Aur. At apparent magnitude 6.91, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 33798 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 33798 is a common variable star

HD 33798 scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-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.