About HIP 59342
HIP 59342 is a common star. It sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 10.62 and has spectral type G5.
Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Common star 19 EP
HIP 59342
RA 182.5941° · Dec -49.0386° · star
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Sun-like G-type star +8
- Deep red star +8
- Star +3
Total score 19
3 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Sun-like G-type star · +8
- Deep red star · +8
Trivia
Hard to believe
- True brightness. It pours out about 483.1 thousand times as much light as the Sun. It only looks ordinary because it is so far away.
What it actually is
- Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
Find it in the sky
- How to spot it. At magnitude 10.6 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Centaurus.
- Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around March — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. Measured through blue and visual filters it comes out deep orange-red (B−V 1.5) — one of the coolest surfaces a star can have while still fusing.
By the numbers
- Surface temperature. Its colour puts the surface at roughly 3850 K, against the Sun's 5778 K.
What's in a name
- Its catalogue. The HIP number comes from Hipparcos, the ESA satellite that between 1989 and 1993 pinned down 118,000 stars precisely enough to triangulate their distances.
Properties
- absmag
- -9.38
- bv
- 1.46
- constellation
- Cen
- luminosity
- 492039.5357
- mag
- 10.62
- name
- HIP 59342
- spect
- G5
How to see it
Look for HIP 59342 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 10.62, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.
Like any astronomical target, HIP 59342 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 59342 is a common star
HIP 59342 scores 19 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Sun-like G-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.