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Common star 21 EP

HD 181612

RA 290.4369° · Dec -14.0334° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Toward the galactic centre +8
  • White A-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Toward the galactic centre · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A8V — 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.
  • 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 7.7 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. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 7.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
2.028
bv
0.278
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
438.3817
luminosity
13.4524
mag
7.67
name
HD 181612
spect
A8V

About HD 181612

HD 181612 is a common star. It lies about 438.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 7.67 and has spectral type A8V.

Its spectrum reads A8V — 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.

How to see it

Look for HD 181612 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 7.67, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 181612 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 181612 is a common star

HD 181612 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, White A-type star and Main-sequence 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.