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Epic variable star 59 EP

HD 70276

RA 125.4286° · Dec 17.2852° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
59 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • S-type star (zirconium giant) +20
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) +20
  • Deep red star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 59

19 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • S-type star (zirconium giant) · +20
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Dramatic variable (over 2 magnitudes) · +20
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 1.7 million 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 Sevar — an S-type giant, its atmosphere laced with zirconium dredged up from the fusion going on below.
  • 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 9.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cancer.
  • 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 2.1) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3090 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-10.75
bv
2.08
constellation
Cnc
luminosity
1737800.8287
mag
9.25
name
HD 70276
spect
Sevar
var amplitude
2.59
var designation
V
var max
8.158
var min
10.748

About HD 70276

HD 70276 is an epic variable star. It sits in the constellation Cnc, shines at apparent magnitude 9.25 and has spectral type Sevar.

Its spectrum reads Sevar — an S-type giant, its atmosphere laced with zirconium dredged up from the fusion going on below.

How to see it

Look for HD 70276 in the constellation Cnc. At apparent magnitude 9.25, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 70276 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 70276 is an epic variable star

HD 70276 scores 59 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 19 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, S-type star (zirconium giant), Deep red star, 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.