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Common star 17 EP

HIP 54697

RA 167.9695° · Dec 18.9959° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K8 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 10.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Leo.
  • 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 March — 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. ≈ 2.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 189.5 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
7.747
bv
1.593
constellation
Leo
dist ly
121.3379
luminosity
0.0694
mag
10.6
name
HIP 54697
spect
K8

About HIP 54697

HIP 54697 is a common star. It lies about 121.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Leo, shines at apparent magnitude 10.6 and has spectral type K8.

Its spectrum reads K8 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HIP 54697 in the constellation Leo. At apparent magnitude 10.6, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HIP 54697 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 HIP 54697 is a common star

HIP 54697 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 4 science badges — Star, On the zodiac, Orange K-type star and Deep red 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.