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Uncommon variable star 22 EP

HD 81544

RA 140.8958° · Dec -61.1933° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8/K0V: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own 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.

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 10 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Carina.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around February — 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. ≈ 5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.267
bv
0.861
constellation
Car
dist ly
287.1093
luminosity
0.6811
mag
9.99
name
HD 81544
spect
G8/K0V:
var amplitude
0.15
var designation
V479
var max
9.925
var min
10.075

About HD 81544

HD 81544 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 287.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Car, shines at apparent magnitude 9.99 and has spectral type G8/K0V:.

Its spectrum reads G8/K0V: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 81544 in the constellation Car. At apparent magnitude 9.99, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 81544 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 81544 is an uncommon variable star

HD 81544 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-type star, Main-sequence star, Gently 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.