RA 352.0149° · Dec -87.4822° · star
2 more points to reach Uncommon.
Tau Oct is a common star. It lies about 486.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Oct, shines at apparent magnitude 5.5 and has spectral type K2III.
Its spectrum reads K2III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
Look for Tau Oct in the constellation Oct. At apparent magnitude 5.5, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Tau Oct 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.
Tau Oct scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Naked-eye visible, Orange K-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.