← Back to dex
Epic variable star 58 EP

HR 2631

RA 105.6064° · Dec 17.7555° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 9 badges
58 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Fades out of naked-eye view +16
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 58

20 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Gently variable · +4
  • Fades out of naked-eye view · +16
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M1.5 — 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 6 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Gemini.
  • 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 January — 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. ≈ 14.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
-1.003
bv
1.518
constellation
Gem
dist ly
805.3235
luminosity
219.3815
mag
5.96
name
HR 2631
spect
M1.5
var amplitude
0.19
var designation
NP
var max
5.855
var min
6.045

About HR 2631

HR 2631 is an epic variable star. It lies about 805.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Gem, shines at apparent magnitude 5.96 and has spectral type M1.5.

Its spectrum reads M1.5 — 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 HR 2631 in the constellation Gem. At apparent magnitude 5.96, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, HR 2631 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 HR 2631 is an epic variable star

HR 2631 scores 58 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 20 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 9 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, Gently variable and Fades out of naked-eye view — 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.