← Back to dex
Epic variable star 62 EP

HD 54361

RA 107.0143° · Dec -11.9233° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 6 badges
62 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Carbon star (sooty red) +24
  • Bright giant +12
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 62

16 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Carbon star (sooty red) · +24
  • Bright giant · +12
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads C5II — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.
  • Where it is in life. It is a bright giant, well on its way to the largest stars there are.
  • 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.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 6.7 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.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 2.5) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 2690 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-13.35
bv
2.55
constellation
CMa
luminosity
19054607.1796
mag
6.65
name
HD 54361
spect
C5II
var amplitude
0.58
var designation
W
var max
6.387
var min
6.967

About HD 54361

HD 54361 is an epic variable star. It sits in the constellation CMa, shines at apparent magnitude 6.65 and has spectral type C5II.

Its spectrum reads C5II — a carbon star, wrapped in so much soot that its light is filtered to a deep ruby red.

How to see it

Look for HD 54361 in the constellation CMa. At apparent magnitude 6.65, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 54361 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 54361 is an epic variable star

HD 54361 scores 62 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 16 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Carbon star (sooty red), Bright giant, Deep red star, Strongly 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.