About HD 170234
HD 170234 is a rare star. It sits in the constellation Sct, shines at apparent magnitude 8.2 and has spectral type G5Iab.
Its spectrum reads G5Iab — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Rare star 37 EP
HD 170234
RA 277.2230° · Dec -12.9602° · star
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Supergiant +18
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Deep red star +8
- Star +3
Total score 37
13 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Supergiant · +18
- Deep red star · +8
Trivia
Hard to believe
- True brightness. It pours out about 4.5 million times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5Iab — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a supergiant. Drop it where the Sun is and its surface would engulf the inner planets.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 8.2 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Scutum.
- 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.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.9) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3330 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
Properties
- absmag
- -11.8
- bv
- 1.855
- constellation
- Sct
- luminosity
- 4570881.8961
- mag
- 8.2
- name
- HD 170234
- spect
- G5Iab
Nearby objects
How to see it
Look for HD 170234 in the constellation Sct. At apparent magnitude 8.2, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HD 170234 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 170234 is a rare star
HD 170234 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-type star, Supergiant and Deep red 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.