← Back to dex
Uncommon variable star 32 EP

HIP 63054

RA 193.7939° · Dec -5.4590° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 6 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Variable star +5
  • White A-type star +5
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A7 — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
  • 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 11.7 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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 April — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 53.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.827
constellation
Vir
dist ly
3019.9629
luminosity
16.1883
mag
11.66
name
HIP 63054
spect
A7
var amplitude
1.24
var designation
AT
var max
10.73
var min
11.97

About HIP 63054

HIP 63054 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 3,020 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir, shines at apparent magnitude 11.66 and has spectral type A7.

Its spectrum reads A7 — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.

How to see it

Look for HIP 63054 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 11.66, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 63054 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 63054 is an uncommon variable star

HIP 63054 scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), On the zodiac, White A-type star, Strongly 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.