← Back to dex
Uncommon variable star 26 EP

HIP 63561

RA 195.3876° · Dec 28.6317° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Giant star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Giant star · +6
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G2III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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.

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 10 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Coma Berenices.
  • 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 April — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

absmag
3.686
bv
0.874
constellation
Com
dist ly
591.9347
luminosity
2.9215
mag
9.98
name
HIP 63561
spect
G2III
var amplitude
0.3
var designation
UX
var max
9.878
var min
10.178

About HIP 63561

HIP 63561 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 591.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Com, shines at apparent magnitude 9.98 and has spectral type G2III.

Its spectrum reads G2III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HIP 63561 in the constellation Com. At apparent magnitude 9.98, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 63561 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 63561 is an uncommon variable star

HIP 63561 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 5 science badges — Variable star, Sun-like G-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.