Uncommon variable star 27 EP

HD 116956

RA 201.4402° · Dec 56.9705° · star

Loading sky survey…

🌌 View in 3D star map

Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 6 badges

27 pts · Uncommon

Uncommon 34 pts → Rare

Sun-like G-type star +8
Variable star +5
Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
A named variable star +3
Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2

Total score 27

7 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
Sun-like G-type star · +8
Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G9IV-V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.
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 7.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Ursa Major.
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: 5.618
bv: 0.804
constellation: UMa
dist ly: 70.4288
luminosity: 0.4929
mag: 7.29
name: HD 116956
spect: G9IV-V
var amplitude: 0.04
var designation: NQ
var max: 7.269
var min: 7.309

Nearby objects

About HD 116956

HD 116956 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 70.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 7.29 and has spectral type G9IV-V.

Its spectrum reads G9IV-V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 116956 in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 7.29, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 116956 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 116956 is an uncommon variable star

HD 116956 scores 27 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Sun-like G-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) 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.