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Rare variable star 41 EP

HIP 67359

RA 207.0873° · Dec -36.8626° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
41 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Bright giant +12
  • Strongly variable +10
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 41

9 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Bright giant · +12
  • Strongly variable · +10
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M6II:e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is a bright giant, well on its way to the largest stars there are.
  • 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 10.3 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.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

absmag
0.292
bv
1.268
constellation
Cen
dist ly
3229.2673
luminosity
66.558
mag
10.27
name
HIP 67359
spect
M6II:e
var amplitude
1.66
var designation
RT
var max
9.469
var min
11.129

About HIP 67359

HIP 67359 is a rare variable star. It lies about 3,229.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 10.27 and has spectral type M6II:e.

Its spectrum reads M6II:e — 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 67359 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 10.27, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 67359 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 67359 is a rare variable star

HIP 67359 scores 41 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Cool red M-type star, Bright giant, 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.