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Epic variable star 60 EP

HD 97082

RA 167.4214° · Dec -58.8377° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
60 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Supergiant +18
  • Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) +10
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Variable star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 60

18 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Supergiant · +18
  • Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) · +10
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G1Iab/Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a supergiant. Drop it where the Sun is and its surface would engulf the inner planets.
  • 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 6.8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Carina.
  • 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 March — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

absmag
-2.607
bv
0.831
constellation
Car
dist ly
2470.8789
luminosity
961.1695
mag
6.79
name
HD 97082
spect
G1Iab/Ib
var amplitude
0.55
var designation
ER
var max
6.556
var min
7.106

About HD 97082

HD 97082 is an epic variable star. It lies about 2,470.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Car, shines at apparent magnitude 6.79 and has spectral type G1Iab/Ib.

Its spectrum reads G1Iab/Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 97082 in the constellation Car. At apparent magnitude 6.79, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 97082 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 97082 is an epic variable star

HD 97082 scores 60 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 18 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Sun-like G-type star, Supergiant, Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2), Strongly 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.