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Rare variable star 37 EP

11 LMi

RA 143.9150° · Dec 35.8101° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • A named variable star +3
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 37

13 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8IV-V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.
  • 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 5.4 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Leo Minor.
  • 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 February — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag
5.121
binary
yes
bv
0.77
constellation
LMi
dist ly
37.08
luminosity
0.7791
mag
5.4
name
11 LMi
spect
G8IV-V
var amplitude
0.02
var designation
SV
var max
5.387
var min
5.407

About 11 LMi

11 LMi is a rare variable star. It lies about 37.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation LMi, shines at apparent magnitude 5.4 and has spectral type G8IV-V.

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for 11 LMi in the constellation LMi. At apparent magnitude 5.4, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 11 LMi 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 11 LMi is a rare variable star

11 LMi scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Binary star, Sun-like G-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), 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.