Common variable star 15 EP

HIP 61247

RA 188.2741° · Dec -37.6470° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges

15 pts · Common

Common 22 pts → Uncommon

Variable star +5
Gently variable +4
Orange K-type star +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 15

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Orange K-type star · +3
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 1.9 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 K2 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
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 9.1 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Centaurus.
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.

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.

By the numbers

Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4180 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag: -10.88
bv: 1.266
constellation: Cen
luminosity: 1958844.6735
mag: 9.12
name: HIP 61247
spect: K2
var amplitude: 0.27
var designation: V932
var max: 8.975
var min: 9.245

Nearby objects

About HIP 61247

HIP 61247 is a common variable star. It sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 9.12 and has spectral type K2.

Its spectrum reads K2 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HIP 61247 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 9.12, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 61247 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 61247 is a common variable star

HIP 61247 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Orange K-type 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.