Uncommon variable star 23 EP

HIP 61163

RA 187.9977° · Dec 43.4830° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges

23 pts · Uncommon

Uncommon 34 pts → Rare

Giant star +6
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
Gently variable +4
A named variable star +3

Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Cool red M-type star · +5
Giant star · +6
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 1.3 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 M6III — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Where it is in life. It is a giant. It has already exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen up enormously in response.
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 9.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Canes Venatici.
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 orange (B−V 1.3) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.

Properties

absmag: -10.45
bv: 1.309
constellation: CVn
luminosity: 1318256.7386
mag: 9.55
name: HIP 61163
spect: M6III
var amplitude: 0.29
var designation: BV
var max: 9.396
var min: 9.686

Nearby objects

About HIP 61163

HIP 61163 is an uncommon variable star. It sits in the constellation CVn, shines at apparent magnitude 9.55 and has spectral type M6III.

Its spectrum reads M6III — 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 HIP 61163 in the constellation CVn. At apparent magnitude 9.55, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 61163 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 HIP 61163 is an uncommon variable star

HIP 61163 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Variable star, Cool red M-type star, Giant star, 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.