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Epic star 64 EP

HR 6617

RA 266.9400° · Dec -22.4778° · star

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Score breakdown

· 8 badges
64 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Supergiant +18
  • Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) +10
  • Toward the galactic centre +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
Total score 64

14 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Toward the galactic centre · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Supergiant · +18
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) · +10

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G3/G5Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

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 6.2 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Sagittarius.
  • 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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 44.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 4 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
-3.284
bv
1.446
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
2548.0938
luminosity
1793.0814
mag
6.18
name
HR 6617
spect
G3/G5Ib

About HR 6617

HR 6617 is an epic star. It lies about 2,548.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 6.18 and has spectral type G3/G5Ib.

Its spectrum reads G3/G5Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HR 6617 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 6.18, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HR 6617 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 HR 6617 is an epic star

HR 6617 scores 64 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 14 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 8 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, Sun-like G-type star, Supergiant, Deep red star and Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) — 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.