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Trash star 6 EP

HD 159721

RA 264.2655° · Dec -20.7093° · star

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Score breakdown

· 2 badges
6 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 6

9 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0 — 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 9.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Ophiuchus.
  • 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 June — 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. ≈ 10.9 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 966.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
3.559
bv
0.648
constellation
Oph
dist ly
618.8918
luminosity
3.284
mag
9.95
name
HD 159721
spect
K0

About HD 159721

HD 159721 is a trash star. It lies about 618.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Oph, shines at apparent magnitude 9.95 and has spectral type K0.

Its spectrum reads K0 — 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 159721 in the constellation Oph. At apparent magnitude 9.95, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 159721 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 159721 is a trash star

HD 159721 scores 6 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 2 science badges — Star and Orange K-type 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.