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Common star 16 EP

HD 33801

RA 78.1606° · Dec -4.6657° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
16 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • White A-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 16

6 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • White A-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads A4V — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
  • 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 9.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Orion.
  • 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 December — 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. ≈ 9.9 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.006
bv
0.239
constellation
Ori
dist ly
565.2616
luminosity
5.4651
mag
9.2
name
HD 33801
spect
A4V

About HD 33801

HD 33801 is a common star. It lies about 565.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 9.2 and has spectral type A4V.

Its spectrum reads A4V — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.

How to see it

Look for HD 33801 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 9.2, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 33801 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 33801 is a common star

HD 33801 scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, In Orion's hunting ground, White A-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.