← Back to dex
Rare star 39 EP

HD 165120

RA 271.5009° · Dec -35.1086° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 7 badges
39 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Toward the galactic centre +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
Total score 39

11 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Toward the galactic centre · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M1/M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

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 8.9 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. ≈ 27.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 2.4 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
0.541
bv
1.769
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
1545.7629
luminosity
52.9176
mag
8.92
name
HD 165120
spect
M1/M2

About HD 165120

HD 165120 is a rare star. It lies about 1,545.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 8.92 and has spectral type M1/M2.

Its spectrum reads M1/M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for HD 165120 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 8.92, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 165120 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 165120 is a rare star

HD 165120 scores 39 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star and Red dwarf — 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.