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Rare variable star 37 EP

HIP 64613

RA 198.6515° · Dec -31.4196° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 37

13 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • True brightness. It pours out about 251.2 thousand 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 Mp — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • 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 11.3 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 April — that's when to go looking.

Its true colour

  • Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.6) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.

By the numbers

  • Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3590 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag
-8.67
bv
1.646
constellation
Cen
luminosity
255858.5887
mag
11.33
name
HIP 64613
spect
Mp
var amplitude
0.66
var designation
V957
var max
11.046
var min
11.706

About HIP 64613

HIP 64613 is a rare variable star. It sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 11.33 and has spectral type Mp.

Its spectrum reads Mp — 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 64613 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 11.33, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 64613 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 64613 is a rare variable star

HIP 64613 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, 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.