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Common star 17 EP

HD 52118

RA 104.3348° · Dec -49.4852° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Giant star +6
  • Star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Giant star · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5/G6III: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

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 9.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Puppis.
  • 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 January — 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. ≈ 4.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 423.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
4.801
bv
0.795
constellation
Pup
dist ly
271.1188
luminosity
1.0462
mag
9.4
name
HD 52118
spect
G5/G6III:

About HD 52118

HD 52118 is a common star. It lies about 271.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Pup, shines at apparent magnitude 9.4 and has spectral type G5/G6III:.

Its spectrum reads G5/G6III: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 52118 in the constellation Pup. At apparent magnitude 9.4, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 52118 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 52118 is a common star

HD 52118 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-type star and Giant 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.