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Rare star 38 EP

Copernicus

RA 133.1494° · Dec 28.3308° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
38 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Naked-eye visible +8
  • Has a proper name +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 38

12 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Naked-eye visible · +8
  • Binary star · +6
  • Has a proper name · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G8V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 6 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site, over in Cancer.
  • 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 February — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

absmag
5.503
binary
yes
bv
0.869
constellation
Cnc
dist ly
40.2512
luminosity
0.548
mag
5.96
name
Copernicus
named
yes
spect
G8V

About Copernicus

Copernicus is a rare star. It lies about 40.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cnc, shines at apparent magnitude 5.96 and has spectral type G8V.

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for Copernicus in the constellation Cnc. At apparent magnitude 5.96, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, Copernicus 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 Copernicus is a rare star

Copernicus scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Star, Naked-eye visible, Binary star, Has a proper name, On the zodiac, Sun-like G-type star and Main-sequence 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.