RA 174.2671° · Dec 55.8061° · star
2 more points to reach Common.
HIP 56661 is a trash star. It lies about 715.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 9.73 and has spectral type B8.
Its spectrum reads B8 — 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 HIP 56661 in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 9.73, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HIP 56661 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.
HIP 56661 scores 13 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar) and Hot blue B-type 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.