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Uncommon variable star 23 EP

HD 244042

RA 82.0402° · Dec 3.6232° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Variable star +5
  • White A-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A3 — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
  • 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 9.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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. ≈ 13.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
2.637
bv
0.168
constellation
Ori
dist ly
754.9908
luminosity
7.6771
mag
9.46
name
HD 244042
spect
A3
var amplitude
0.06
var designation
FO
var max
9.435
var min
9.495

About HD 244042

HD 244042 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 755 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 9.46 and has spectral type A3.

Its spectrum reads A3 — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.

How to see it

Look for HD 244042 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 9.46, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 244042 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 244042 is an uncommon variable star

HD 244042 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, In Orion's hunting ground, White A-type star, 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.