← Back to dex
Common star 15 EP

HD 149600

RA 249.2838° · Dec -32.1459° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 4 badges
15 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 15

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Giant star · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K2/K3III: — 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 9.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Scorpius.
  • 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. ≈ 7.9 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 705.4 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
3.693
bv
0.519
constellation
Sco
dist ly
451.7398
luminosity
2.9027
mag
9.4
name
HD 149600
spect
K2/K3III:

About HD 149600

HD 149600 is a common star. It lies about 451.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sco, shines at apparent magnitude 9.4 and has spectral type K2/K3III:.

Its spectrum reads K2/K3III: — 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 HD 149600 in the constellation Sco. At apparent magnitude 9.4, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 149600 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 149600 is a common star

HD 149600 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, On the zodiac, Orange K-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.