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Uncommon star 30 EP

104 Tau

RA 76.8625° · Dec 18.6451° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
30 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 30

4 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • 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 G4V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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 4.9 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Taurus.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

absmag
3.968
binary
yes
bv
0.657
constellation
Tau
dist ly
50.3405
luminosity
2.2532
mag
4.91
name
104 Tau
spect
G4V

About 104 Tau

104 Tau is an uncommon star. It lies about 50.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Tau, shines at apparent magnitude 4.91 and has spectral type G4V.

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 104 Tau in the constellation Tau. At apparent magnitude 4.91, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, 104 Tau 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 104 Tau is an uncommon star

104 Tau scores 30 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Star, Naked-eye visible, Binary star, On the zodiac, Sun-like G-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.