Epic variable star 50 EP

HD 126947

RA 217.1190° · Dec 5.6809° · star

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Score breakdown

· 9 badges

50 pts · Epic

Epic 78 pts → Anomaly

Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) +10
Deep red star +8
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
Giant star +6
Variable star +5
Cool red M-type star +5
Gently variable +4
On the zodiac +3
A named variable star +3

Total score 50

28 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

Variable star · +5
Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
On the zodiac · +3
Cool red M-type star · +5
Giant star · +6
Deep red star · +8
Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) · +10
Gently variable · +4
A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M3III: — 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 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 7.4 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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Properties

absmag: -2.587
bv: 1.653
constellation: Vir
dist ly: 3197.608
luminosity: 943.6262
mag: 7.37
name: HD 126947
spect: M3III:
var amplitude: 0.21
var designation: NQ
var max: 7.31
var min: 7.52

Nearby objects

About HD 126947

HD 126947 is an epic variable star. It lies about 3,197.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Vir, shines at apparent magnitude 7.37 and has spectral type M3III:.

Its spectrum reads M3III: — 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 HD 126947 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 7.37, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 126947 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 126947 is an epic variable star

HD 126947 scores 50 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 28 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 9 science badges — Variable star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Giant star, Deep red star, Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) and Gently variable — 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.