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Uncommon variable star 26 EP

HD 108849

RA 187.5876° · Dec 4.4164° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • 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 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

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

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M7 — 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.

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 8.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Virgo.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • 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. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 10.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.994
bv
1.193
constellation
Vir
dist ly
589.7938
luminosity
13.8803
mag
8.28
name
HD 108849
spect
M7
var amplitude
0.39
var designation
BK
var max
8.072
var min
8.462

About HD 108849

HD 108849 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 589.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir, shines at apparent magnitude 8.28 and has spectral type M7.

Its spectrum reads M7 — 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 108849 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 8.28, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 108849 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 108849 is an uncommon variable star

HD 108849 scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type 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.