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Epic variable star 50 EP

HD 57770

RA 110.7889° · Dec 13.1013° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
50 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) +20
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 50

28 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) · +20
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 283.1 thousand times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M4-M8(S)E — 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.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 11.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.5) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3790 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-8.8
bv
1.5
constellation
Gem
luminosity
288403.1503
mag
11.2
name
HD 57770
spect
M4-M8(S)E
var amplitude
3.25
var designation
V
var max
8.723
var min
11.973

About HD 57770

HD 57770 is an epic variable star. It sits in the constellation Gem, shines at apparent magnitude 11.2 and has spectral type M4-M8(S)E.

Its spectrum reads M4-M8(S)E — 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 57770 in the constellation Gem. At apparent magnitude 11.2, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 57770 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 57770 is an epic variable star

HD 57770 scores 50 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 28 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) 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.