RA 170.6216° · Dec -62.4555° · star
7 more points to reach Uncommon.
HD 98956 is a common star. It lies about 838.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 8.66 and has spectral type B9IIIp....
Its spectrum reads B9IIIp... — a blue-white B-type star, with a surface tens of thousands of degrees hot and a life measured in tens of millions of years.
Look for HD 98956 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 8.66, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, HD 98956 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.
HD 98956 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Hot blue B-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.