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Common star 16 EP

Rho Ind

RA 343.6647° · Dec -70.0737° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
16 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
Total score 16

6 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G4IV-V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Indus.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — 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. ≈ 1.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.904
bv
0.66
constellation
Ind
dist ly
87.2307
luminosity
2.39
mag
6.04
name
Rho Ind
spect
G4IV-V

Nearby objects

About Rho Ind

Rho Ind is a common star. It lies about 87.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ind, shines at apparent magnitude 6.04 and has spectral type G4IV-V.

Its spectrum reads G4IV-V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for Rho Ind in the constellation Ind. At apparent magnitude 6.04, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, Rho Ind 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 Rho Ind is a common star

Rho Ind scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-type star and Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) — 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.