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Rare variable star 37 EP

HD 54339

RA 106.7900° · Dec -29.5395° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Bright giant +12
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 37

13 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Bright giant · +12
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M2/M3II/III — 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 7.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Canis Major.
  • 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 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
0.377
bv
1.58
constellation
CMa
dist ly
809.3202
luminosity
61.546
mag
7.35
name
HD 54339
spect
M2/M3II/III
var amplitude
0.17
var designation
LW
var max
7.275
var min
7.445

About HD 54339

HD 54339 is a rare variable star. It lies about 809.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CMa, shines at apparent magnitude 7.35 and has spectral type M2/M3II/III.

Its spectrum reads M2/M3II/III — 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 HD 54339 in the constellation CMa. At apparent magnitude 7.35, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 54339 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 54339 is a rare variable star

HD 54339 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Cool red M-type star, Bright giant, Deep red 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.