Uncommon variable star 29 EP

HD 123423

RA 211.9685° · Dec -11.1521° · star

Loading sky survey…

🌌 View in 3D star map

Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 7 badges

29 pts · Uncommon

Uncommon 34 pts → Rare

Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Variable star +5
Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
Gently variable +4
On the zodiac +3
Yellow-white F-type star +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 29

5 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
On the zodiac · +3
Yellow-white F-type star · +3
Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads F6IV + F6IV — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the 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. 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 8.7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Virgo.
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: 0.781
bv: 0.469
constellation: Vir
dist ly: 1274.0469
luminosity: 42.4229
mag: 8.74
name: HD 123423
spect: F6IV + F6IV
var amplitude: 0.42
var designation: DM
var max: 8.71
var min: 9.13

Nearby objects

About HD 123423

HD 123423 is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 1,274 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir, shines at apparent magnitude 8.74 and has spectral type F6IV + F6IV.

Its spectrum reads F6IV + F6IV — an F-type star — a little hotter, whiter and shorter-lived than the Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 123423 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 8.74, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 123423 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 123423 is an uncommon variable star

HD 123423 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), On the zodiac, Yellow-white F-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence), 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.