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Common star 21 EP

HD 181548

RA 290.6632° · Dec -39.7873° · 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 A9V — 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 9.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, 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. ≈ 11.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.078
bv
0.425
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
648.4216
luminosity
5.1145
mag
9.57
name
HD 181548
spect
A9V

About HD 181548

HD 181548 is a common star. It lies about 648.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 9.57 and has spectral type A9V.

Its spectrum reads A9V — 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 181548 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 9.57, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 181548 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 181548 is a common star

HD 181548 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.