Rare variable star 35 EP

HD 117997

RA 203.3324° · Dec 44.2928° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges

35 pts · Rare

Rare 50 pts → Epic

Deep red star +8
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Giant star +6
Variable star +5
Gently variable +4
Orange K-type star +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 35

15 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
Orange K-type star · +3
Giant star · +6
Deep red star · +8
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
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 8.1 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Canes Venatici.
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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

absmag: -1.267
bv: 1.64
constellation: CVn
dist ly: 2470.8789
luminosity: 279.7693
mag: 8.13
name: HD 117997
spect: K3III
var amplitude: 0.1
var designation: CQ
var max: 8.078
var min: 8.178

Nearby objects

About HD 117997

HD 117997 is a rare variable star. It lies about 2,470.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CVn, shines at apparent magnitude 8.13 and has spectral type K3III.

Its spectrum reads K3III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 117997 in the constellation CVn. At apparent magnitude 8.13, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 117997 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 117997 is a rare variable star

HD 117997 scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Orange K-type star, Giant star, Deep red 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.