RA 88.7929° · Dec 7.4071° · star
1 more point to reach Mythic.
Betelgeuse is an anomaly variable star. It lies about 497.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 0.45 and has spectral type M2Ib.
Its spectrum reads M2Ib — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
Look for Betelgeuse in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 0.45, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Betelgeuse 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.
Betelgeuse scores 119 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the anomaly tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 11 science badges — Variable star, Brilliant (mag < 1), Has a proper name, In Orion's hunting ground, Cool red M-type star, Supergiant, Deep red star and Blindingly luminous (Mv < −5) — 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.