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Common star 17 EP

HD 39156

RA 87.7636° · Dec 11.4989° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0IV — 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 a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.

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 6.9 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Orion.
  • 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.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 3.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.138
bv
0.828
constellation
Ori
dist ly
187.8779
luminosity
4.8395
mag
6.94
name
HD 39156
spect
K0IV

About HD 39156

HD 39156 is a common star. It lies about 187.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 6.94 and has spectral type K0IV.

Its spectrum reads K0IV — 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 39156 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 6.94, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 39156 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 39156 is a common star

HD 39156 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, In Orion's hunting ground, Orange K-type star and Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) — 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.