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Uncommon star 23 EP

HD 130494

RA 222.6712° · Dec -55.4209° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Bright giant +12
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Star +3
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Bright giant · +12

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G3/G5II: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

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 8.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Lupus.
  • 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 May — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 13.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 1.2 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
1.777
bv
1.166
constellation
Lup
dist ly
748.0642
luminosity
16.9512
mag
8.58
name
HD 130494
spect
G3/G5II:

About HD 130494

HD 130494 is an uncommon star. It lies about 748.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Lup, shines at apparent magnitude 8.58 and has spectral type G3/G5II:.

Its spectrum reads G3/G5II: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 130494 in the constellation Lup. At apparent magnitude 8.58, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 130494 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 130494 is an uncommon star

HD 130494 scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-type star and Bright giant — 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.