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Common star 19 EP

HIP 8946

RA 28.8080° · Dec 7.1463° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
19 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 19

3 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M0V: — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 12.5 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Pisces.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • 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. ≈ 2.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
9.213
bv
1.34
constellation
Psc
dist ly
147.5151
luminosity
0.018
mag
12.49
name
HIP 8946
spect
M0V:

About HIP 8946

HIP 8946 is a common star. It lies about 147.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Psc, shines at apparent magnitude 12.49 and has spectral type M0V:.

Its spectrum reads M0V: — 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 HIP 8946 in the constellation Psc. At apparent magnitude 12.49, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 8946 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 HIP 8946 is a common star

HIP 8946 scores 19 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Main-sequence 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.