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Uncommon variable star 32 EP

3Pi 1UMa

RA 129.7989° · Dec 65.0209° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G1.5Vb — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
  • 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. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 5.6 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Ursa Major.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • 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.

Properties

absmag
4.845
bv
0.618
constellation
UMa
dist ly
46.821
luminosity
1.0046
mag
5.63
name
3Pi 1UMa
spect
G1.5Vb
var amplitude
0.04
var designation
Pi-1
var max
5.611
var min
5.651

About 3Pi 1UMa

3Pi 1UMa is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 46.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 5.63 and has spectral type G1.5Vb.

Its spectrum reads G1.5Vb — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for 3Pi 1UMa in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 5.63, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 3Pi 1UMa 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 3Pi 1UMa is an uncommon variable star

3Pi 1UMa scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence star, Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) 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.