RA 83.0017° · Dec -0.2991° · star
33 more points to reach Mythic.
Mintaka is an anomaly variable star. It lies about 692.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 2.25 and has spectral type O9.5II.
Its spectrum reads O9.5II — an O-type star — the hottest, rarest main class there is. Fewer than one star in a million is an O, and none of them lasts long.
Look for Mintaka in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 2.25, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Mintaka 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.
Mintaka scores 87 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the anomaly tier. Another 33 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 10 science badges — Variable star, Naked-eye visible, Has a proper name, In Orion's hunting ground, Blazing O-type star, Bright giant, Blue-white star and Intrinsically luminous (Mv < −2) — 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.