Rare variable star 34 EP

HD 101487

RA 175.2016° · Dec 13.0781° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges

34 pts · Rare

Rare 50 pts → Epic

Deep red star +8
Red dwarf +6
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
Gently variable +4
On the zodiac +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 34

16 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

Variable star · +5
On the zodiac · +3
Cool red M-type star · +5
Deep red star · +8
Red dwarf · +6
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 3.6 million times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M5 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
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.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 8.4 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Leo.
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 March — that's when to go looking.

Its true colour

Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.4) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3890 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag: -11.55
bv: 1.438
constellation: Leo
luminosity: 3630780.5477
mag: 8.45
name: HD 101487
spect: M5
var amplitude: 0.45
var designation: AK
var max: 8.337
var min: 8.787

Nearby objects

About HD 101487

HD 101487 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Leo, shines at apparent magnitude 8.45 and has spectral type M5.

Its spectrum reads M5 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for HD 101487 in the constellation Leo. At apparent magnitude 8.45, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 101487 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 101487 is a rare variable star

HD 101487 scores 34 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 16 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, 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.