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Uncommon star 23 EP

HD 140872

RA 236.5039° · Dec 0.0117° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Giant star · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a giant. It has already exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen up enormously in response.

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 9.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 33.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.355
bv
1.4
constellation
Ser
dist ly
1907.345
luminosity
62.8058
mag
9.19
name
HD 140872
spect
G8III

Nearby objects

About HD 140872

HD 140872 is an uncommon star. It lies about 1,907.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ser, shines at apparent magnitude 9.19 and has spectral type G8III.

Its spectrum reads G8III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 140872 in the constellation Ser. At apparent magnitude 9.19, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 140872 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 140872 is an uncommon star

HD 140872 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 4 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Sun-like G-type star and Giant 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.