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Rare variable star 37 EP

HR 2748

RA 108.3846° · Dec -44.6397° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 37

13 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5e — 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 4.4 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Puppis.
  • 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. ≈ 3.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.387
bv
1.331
constellation
Pup
dist ly
208.9404
luminosity
60.9818
mag
4.42
name
HR 2748
spect
M5e
var amplitude
0.86
var designation
L-2
var max
4.084
var min
4.944

About HR 2748

HR 2748 is a rare variable star. It lies about 208.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Pup, shines at apparent magnitude 4.42 and has spectral type M5e.

Its spectrum reads M5e — 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 2748 in the constellation Pup. At apparent magnitude 4.42, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, HR 2748 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 2748 is a rare variable star

HR 2748 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, Naked-eye visible, Cool red M-type star, Red dwarf, 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.