About HR 3146
HR 3146 is an uncommon star. It sits in the constellation Pup, shines at apparent magnitude 6.62 and has spectral type G8Ib.
Its spectrum reads G8Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Uncommon star 29 EP
HR 3146
RA 120.0814° · Dec -45.4570° · star
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Supergiant +18
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Star +3
Total score 29
5 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Supergiant · +18
Trivia
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8Ib — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
- Where it is in life. It is a supergiant, hundreds of times wider than the Sun.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 6.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out orange (B−V 1.3) — cooler than the Sun, and the kind of star that burns steadily for tens of billions of years.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 4170 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
What's in a name
- Its catalogue. The HR number is from the Bright Star Catalogue — roughly 9,100 stars, essentially everything the unaided eye can see.
Properties
- absmag
- -13.38
- bv
- 1.272
- constellation
- Pup
- luminosity
- 19588446.7351
- mag
- 6.62
- name
- HR 3146
- spect
- G8Ib
How to see it
Look for HR 3146 in the constellation Pup. At apparent magnitude 6.62, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HR 3146 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 HR 3146 is an uncommon star
HR 3146 scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon 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 Supergiant — 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.