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Uncommon star 29 EP

HD 39398

RA 88.1547° · Dec 5.1646° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
29 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Bright giant +12
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Star +3
Total score 29

5 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Bright giant · +12

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G6II-III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is a bright giant, well on its way to the largest stars there are.

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 8.4 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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. ≈ 14.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.379
bv
1.06
constellation
Ori
dist ly
842.7803
luminosity
24.4568
mag
8.44
name
HD 39398
spect
G6II-III

About HD 39398

HD 39398 is an uncommon star. It lies about 842.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 8.44 and has spectral type G6II-III.

Its spectrum reads G6II-III — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 39398 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 8.44, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 39398 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 39398 is an uncommon star

HD 39398 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, In Orion's hunting ground, Sun-like G-type star and Bright giant — 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.