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Common star 21 EP

HD 106552

RA 183.8874° · Dec -59.1831° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Under the Southern Cross +8
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Under the Southern Cross · +8
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 8.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Crux.
  • 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.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 4.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
3.953
bv
0.642
constellation
Cru
dist ly
241.4181
luminosity
2.2845
mag
8.3
name
HD 106552
spect
G5V

About HD 106552

HD 106552 is a common star. It lies about 241.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cru, shines at apparent magnitude 8.3 and has spectral type G5V.

Its spectrum reads G5V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 106552 in the constellation Cru. At apparent magnitude 8.3, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 106552 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 106552 is a common star

HD 106552 scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Under the Southern Cross, Sun-like G-type star and Main-sequence 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.