RA 93.5612° · Dec 14.4486° · star
1 more point to reach Uncommon.
HD 42956 is a common star. It lies about 497.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 7.96 and has spectral type A5V.
Its spectrum reads A5V — an A-type star: white-hot, typically about twice the Sun's mass, and the class most of the sky's famous bright stars belong to.
Look for HD 42956 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 7.96, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HD 42956 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 42956 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, In Orion's hunting ground, White A-type star, Main-sequence star and Blue-white 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.