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Rare star 37 EP

HD 179579

RA 288.6608° · Dec -36.5742° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Toward the galactic centre +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 37

13 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Toward the galactic centre · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Giant star · +6
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3/K4III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 8.6 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 July — 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. ≈ 22.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 2 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
0.664
bv
1.547
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
1284.0788
luminosity
47.2498
mag
8.64
name
HD 179579
spect
K3/K4III

About HD 179579

HD 179579 is a rare star. It lies about 1,284.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 8.64 and has spectral type K3/K4III.

Its spectrum reads K3/K4III — 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 179579 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 8.64, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 179579 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 179579 is a rare star

HD 179579 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 7 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, Orange K-type star, Giant 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.