RA 247.3519° · Dec -26.4320° · star
16 more points to reach Mythic.
Antares is an anomaly variable star. It lies about 553.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sco, shines at apparent magnitude 1.06 and has spectral type M1Ib + B2.5V.
Its spectrum reads M1Ib + B2.5V — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Look for Antares in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 1.06, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Antares 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.
Antares scores 104 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the anomaly tier. Another 16 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 11 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Has a proper name, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Supergiant, Deep red star and Blindingly luminous (Mv < −5) — 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.