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Trash star 8 EP

HD 20781

RA 50.0121° · Dec -28.7838° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
8 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 8

7 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0V — 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. 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 8.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Fornax.
  • 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 November — 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 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.737
bv
0.82
constellation
For
dist ly
115.3718
luminosity
0.4418
mag
8.48
name
HD 20781
spect
K0V

Nearby objects

About HD 20781

HD 20781 is a trash star. It lies about 115.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation For, shines at apparent magnitude 8.48 and has spectral type K0V.

Its spectrum reads K0V — 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 20781 in the constellation For. At apparent magnitude 8.48, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 20781 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 20781 is a trash star

HD 20781 scores 8 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, 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.