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Uncommon variable star 32 EP

HD 42504

RA 91.9872° · Dec -54.4393° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Giant star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Giant star · +6
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8/K0III + F — 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 7.7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Pictor.
  • 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 December — 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. ≈ 18.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.158
bv
0.978
constellation
Pic
dist ly
1042.0319
luminosity
75.3009
mag
7.68
name
HD 42504
spect
G8/K0III + F
var amplitude
0.16
var designation
TY
var max
7.599
var min
7.759

About HD 42504

HD 42504 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 1,042 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Pic, shines at apparent magnitude 7.68 and has spectral type G8/K0III + F.

Its spectrum reads G8/K0III + F — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 42504 in the constellation Pic. At apparent magnitude 7.68, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 42504 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 42504 is an uncommon variable star

HD 42504 scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Sun-like G-type star, Giant 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.