Common variable star 21 EP

HIP 69525

RA 213.4848° · Dec -38.0963° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges

21 pts · Common

Common 22 pts → Uncommon

Strongly variable +10
Variable star +5
Orange K-type star +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Orange K-type star · +3
Strongly variable · +10
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

Hard to believe

True brightness. It pours out about 2.1 million times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0e — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
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.

Find it in the sky

How to spot it. At magnitude 9.1 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.

Its true colour

Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out orange (B−V 1.1) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.

By the numbers

Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4450 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.

Properties

absmag: -10.95
bv: 1.13
constellation: Cen
luminosity: 2089296.1309
mag: 9.05
name: HIP 69525
spect: K0e
var amplitude: 0.77
var designation: V820
var max: 8.7
var min: 9.47

Nearby objects

About HIP 69525

HIP 69525 is a common variable star. It sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 9.05 and has spectral type K0e.

Its spectrum reads K0e — 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 HIP 69525 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 9.05, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 69525 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 69525 is a common variable star

HIP 69525 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Variable star, Orange K-type star, 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.