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Rare star 42 EP

268 G. Cet

RA 39.0204° · Dec 6.8869° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
42 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Has a proper name +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 42

8 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • Has a proper name · +8
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • 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. 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 5.8 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Cetus.
  • 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.

Properties

absmag
6.509
binary
yes
bv
0.918
constellation
Cet
dist ly
23.419
luminosity
0.217
mag
5.79
name
268 G. Cet
named
yes
spect
K3V

About 268 G. Cet

268 G. Cet is a rare star. It lies about 23.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cet, shines at apparent magnitude 5.79 and has spectral type K3V.

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for 268 G. Cet in the constellation Cet. At apparent magnitude 5.79, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 268 G. Cet 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 268 G. Cet is a rare star

268 G. Cet scores 42 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Star, Nearby (<25 ly), Naked-eye visible, Binary star, Has a proper name, Orange K-type star and Main-sequence 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.