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Uncommon variable star 22 EP

HD 117362

RA 202.4462° · Dec 1.0953° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Variable star +5
  • White A-type star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A7V — 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.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.
  • 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 6.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

absmag
1.59
bv
0.284
constellation
Vir
dist ly
326.156
luminosity
20.1372
mag
6.59
name
HD 117362
spect
A7V
var amplitude
0.3
var designation
FO
var max
6.495
var min
6.795

About HD 117362

HD 117362 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 326.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir, shines at apparent magnitude 6.59 and has spectral type A7V.

Its spectrum reads A7V — 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 HD 117362 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 6.59, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 117362 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 117362 is an uncommon variable star

HD 117362 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, On the zodiac, White A-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.