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Uncommon star 28 EP

HD 254209

RA 94.0716° · Dec 19.6026° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
28 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
Total score 28

6 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • 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 8.9 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. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 28.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
0.477
bv
0.943
constellation
Ori
dist ly
1606.6797
luminosity
56.1306
mag
8.94
name
HD 254209
spect
G8IV

About HD 254209

HD 254209 is an uncommon star. It lies about 1,606.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 8.94 and has spectral type G8IV.

Its spectrum reads G8IV — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 254209 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 8.94, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 254209 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 254209 is an uncommon star

HD 254209 scores 28 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), In Orion's hunting ground, Sun-like G-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.