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Common star 20 EP

HD 902

RA 3.3075° · Dec -37.8229° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Giant star · +6
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3/K4III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 7.2 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Sculptor.
  • 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 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. ≈ 13.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 1.2 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
0.321
bv
1.53
constellation
Scl
dist ly
778.4153
luminosity
64.8037
mag
7.21
name
HD 902
spect
K3/K4III

About HD 902

HD 902 is a common star. It lies about 778.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Scl, shines at apparent magnitude 7.21 and has spectral type K3/K4III.

Its spectrum reads K3/K4III — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 902 in the constellation Scl. At apparent magnitude 7.21, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 902 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 902 is a common star

HD 902 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, Orange K-type star, Giant star and Deep red 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.