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Trash star 11 EP

HD 158866

RA 266.9285° · Dec -82.2164° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
11 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 11

4 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K2IV/V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Apus.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • 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. ≈ 1.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
6.585
bv
0.98
constellation
Aps
dist ly
99.6201
luminosity
0.2023
mag
9.01
name
HD 158866
spect
K2IV/V

About HD 158866

HD 158866 is a trash star. It lies about 99.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aps, shines at apparent magnitude 9.01 and has spectral type K2IV/V.

Its spectrum reads K2IV/V — 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 158866 in the constellation Aps. At apparent magnitude 9.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 158866 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 158866 is a trash star

HD 158866 scores 11 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star and Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) — 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.