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Common variable star 20 EP

HD 91021

RA 157.3445° · Dec -50.5705° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Variable star +5
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • Yellow-white F-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Yellow-white F-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads F3IVp (Sr) — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the 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. 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 9.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Vela.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • 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.

Properties

absmag
3.055
bv
0.4
constellation
Vel
dist ly
664.2689
luminosity
5.224
mag
9.6
name
HD 91021
spect
F3IVp (Sr)
var amplitude
0.14
var designation
V349
var max
9.554
var min
9.694

About HD 91021

HD 91021 is a common variable star. It lies about 664.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vel, shines at apparent magnitude 9.6 and has spectral type F3IVp (Sr).

Its spectrum reads F3IVp (Sr) — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 91021 in the constellation Vel. At apparent magnitude 9.6, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 91021 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 91021 is a common variable star

HD 91021 scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Yellow-white F-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), 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.