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Trash star 14 EP

HIP 78618

RA 240.7501° · Dec -41.4527° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
14 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Deep red star +8
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 14

1 more point to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K7 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 11.8 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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. ≈ 3.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 289.8 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
8.014
bv
1.557
constellation
Lup
dist ly
185.6323
luminosity
0.0543
mag
11.79
name
HIP 78618
spect
K7

About HIP 78618

HIP 78618 is a trash star. It lies about 185.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Lup, shines at apparent magnitude 11.79 and has spectral type K7.

Its spectrum reads K7 — 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 78618 in the constellation Lup. At apparent magnitude 11.79, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 78618 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 78618 is a trash star

HIP 78618 scores 14 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star and Deep red 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.