About HD 186914
HD 186914 is an uncommon star. It sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 9.06 and has spectral type G8III/IV.
Its spectrum reads G8III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Uncommon star 28 EP
HD 186914
RA 297.1631° · Dec -37.9939° · star
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Toward the galactic centre +8
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Giant star +6
- Star +3
- On the zodiac +3
Total score 28
6 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Toward the galactic centre · +8
- On the zodiac · +3
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Giant star · +6
Trivia
Hard to believe
- True brightness. It pours out about 2 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 G8III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a giant. It has already exhausted its core hydrogen and swollen up enormously in response.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 9.1 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.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out orange (B−V 1.1) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4540 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
Properties
- absmag
- -10.94
- bv
- 1.089
- constellation
- Sgr
- luminosity
- 2070141.3488
- mag
- 9.06
- name
- HD 186914
- spect
- G8III/IV
How to see it
Look for HD 186914 in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 9.06, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HD 186914 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 186914 is an uncommon star
HD 186914 scores 28 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, Sun-like G-type star and Giant 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.