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Common star 17 EP

HD 78964

RA 136.9926° · Dec -64.0352° · 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 G8/K0III: — 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 9.8 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Carina.
  • Southern sky only. So far south it never rises for most of the northern hemisphere. To see it you'd have to travel to Chile, South Africa or Australia.
  • 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.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 4.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 418.5 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
5.246
bv
0.856
constellation
Car
dist ly
268.0001
luminosity
0.6944
mag
9.82
name
HD 78964
spect
G8/K0III:

About HD 78964

HD 78964 is a common star. It lies about 268 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Car, shines at apparent magnitude 9.82 and has spectral type G8/K0III:.

Its spectrum reads G8/K0III: — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 78964 in the constellation Car. At apparent magnitude 9.82, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HD 78964 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 78964 is a common star

HD 78964 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.