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Common star 16 EP

HD 138885

RA 233.7699° · Dec -3.3225° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
16 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
Total score 16

6 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own 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.

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 Serpens.
  • 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 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. ≈ 2.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.545
bv
0.829
constellation
Ser
dist ly
135.0544
luminosity
0.5272
mag
8.63
name
HD 138885
spect
G5IV

Nearby objects

About HD 138885

HD 138885 is a common star. It lies about 135.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ser, shines at apparent magnitude 8.63 and has spectral type G5IV.

Its spectrum reads G5IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 138885 in the constellation Ser. At apparent magnitude 8.63, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 138885 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 138885 is a common star

HD 138885 scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-type star and Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) — 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.