RA 86.9721° · Dec 28.7895° · star
7 more points to reach Uncommon.
HD 38542 is a common star. It lies about 2,363.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aur, shines at apparent magnitude 9.01 and has spectral type B8.
Its spectrum reads B8 — a blue-white B-type star, with a surface tens of thousands of degrees hot and a life measured in tens of millions of years.
Look for HD 38542 in the constellation Aur. At apparent magnitude 9.01, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HD 38542 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.
HD 38542 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years) and Hot blue B-type 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.