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Uncommon variable star 25 EP

HD 110971

RA 191.6089° · Dec -57.9504° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
25 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Under the Southern Cross +8
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 25

9 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Under the Southern Cross · +8
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3/K4V — 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.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 8.8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Crux.
  • 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 April — 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. ≈ 1.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
6.374
bv
1.096
constellation
Cru
dist ly
99.2261
luminosity
0.2457
mag
8.79
name
HD 110971
spect
K3/K4V
var amplitude
0.11
var designation
DR
var max
8.749
var min
8.859

About HD 110971

HD 110971 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 99.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cru, shines at apparent magnitude 8.79 and has spectral type K3/K4V.

Its spectrum reads K3/K4V — 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 HD 110971 in the constellation Cru. At apparent magnitude 8.79, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 110971 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 110971 is an uncommon variable star

HD 110971 scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Under the Southern Cross, Orange K-type star, Main-sequence 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.