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Common star 16 EP

HD 42137

RA 91.8214° · Dec -37.0366° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
16 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 16

6 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3/K4V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 7.7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Columba.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south 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. ≈ 15.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 1.4 million years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
0.509
bv
1.526
constellation
Col
dist ly
886.2934
luminosity
54.5004
mag
7.68
name
HD 42137
spect
K3/K4V

About HD 42137

HD 42137 is a common star. It lies about 886.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Col, shines at apparent magnitude 7.68 and has spectral type K3/K4V.

Its spectrum reads K3/K4V — 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 42137 in the constellation Col. At apparent magnitude 7.68, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 42137 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 42137 is a common star

HD 42137 scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star, Main-sequence star and Deep red 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.