← Back to dex
Uncommon star 30 EP

Danfeng

RA 350.0321° · Dec -60.0652° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
30 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Has a proper name +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 30

4 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Has a proper name · +8
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

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 11 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Tucana.
  • 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).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 134.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
8.924
bv
1.45
constellation
Tuc
dist ly
86.0116
luminosity
0.0235
mag
11.03
name
Danfeng
named
yes
spect
M2

About Danfeng

Danfeng is an uncommon star. It lies about 86 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Tuc, shines at apparent magnitude 11.03 and has spectral type M2.

Its spectrum reads M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for Danfeng in the constellation Tuc. At apparent magnitude 11.03, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, Danfeng 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 Danfeng is an uncommon star

Danfeng scores 30 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Has a proper name, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star and Red dwarf — 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.