RA 277.0795° · Dec -35.3397° · star
3 more points to reach Uncommon.
HD 169874 is a common star. It lies about 656.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 9.01 and has spectral type A2m....
Its spectrum reads A2m... — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
Look for HD 169874 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 9.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HD 169874 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.
HD 169874 scores 19 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac and White A-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.