Rare variable star 41 EP

HIP 35915

RA 111.0583° · Dec 8.8977° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges

41 pts · Rare

Rare 50 pts → Epic

Supergiant +18
Strongly variable +10
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
A named variable star +3

Total score 41

9 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Cool red M-type star · +5
Supergiant · +18
Strongly variable · +10
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 920.4 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 M6Ib-II:pe — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Where it is in life. It is a supergiant, hundreds of times wider than the Sun.
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 9.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Canis Minor.
Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
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 orange (B−V 1.2) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.

Properties

absmag: -10.08
bv: 1.161
constellation: CMi
luminosity: 937562.0069
mag: 9.92
name: HIP 35915
spect: M6Ib-II:pe
var amplitude: 0.55
var designation: ZZ
var max: 9.653
var min: 10.203

Nearby objects

About HIP 35915

HIP 35915 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation CMi, shines at apparent magnitude 9.92 and has spectral type M6Ib-II:pe.

Its spectrum reads M6Ib-II:pe — 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 HIP 35915 in the constellation CMi. At apparent magnitude 9.92, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 35915 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 HIP 35915 is a rare variable star

HIP 35915 scores 41 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Cool red M-type star, Supergiant, 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.