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Common star 17 EP

HD 8407

RA 20.7609° · Dec -16.5603° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Giant star · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G6/G8III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

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 7.8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Cetus.
  • 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 October — 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. ≈ 5.5 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 490.1 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
2.833
bv
0.92
constellation
Cet
dist ly
313.9134
luminosity
6.4091
mag
7.75
name
HD 8407
spect
G6/G8III/IV

About HD 8407

HD 8407 is a common star. It lies about 313.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cet, shines at apparent magnitude 7.75 and has spectral type G6/G8III/IV.

Its spectrum reads G6/G8III/IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 8407 in the constellation Cet. At apparent magnitude 7.75, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 8407 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 8407 is a common star

HD 8407 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, 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.