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Uncommon star 22 EP

HD 171272

RA 278.9609° · Dec -42.6333° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K5V: — 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 on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 9.1 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Corona Australis.
  • 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. ≈ 30 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.505
bv
1.576
constellation
CrA
dist ly
1707.623
luminosity
54.7016
mag
9.1
name
HD 171272
spect
K5V:

About HD 171272

HD 171272 is an uncommon star. It lies about 1,707.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CrA, shines at apparent magnitude 9.1 and has spectral type K5V:.

Its spectrum reads K5V: — 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 171272 in the constellation CrA. At apparent magnitude 9.1, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 171272 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 171272 is an uncommon star

HD 171272 scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Orange K-type star, Main-sequence star 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.