About 3C 273
3C 273 is a trash star. It sits in the constellation Vir and shines at apparent magnitude 12.88.
Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Trash star 11 EP
3C 273
RA 187.2779° · Dec 2.0524° · star
Score breakdown
· 2 badgesTrash 15 pts → Common
- Has a proper name +8
- Star +3
Total score 11
4 more points to reach Common.
Badges
- Star · +3
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- absmag
- -7.12
- bv
- 0.12
- constellation
- Vir
- mag
- 12.88
- name
- 3C 273
- named
- yes
How to see it
Look for 3C 273 in the constellation Vir. At apparent magnitude 12.88, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.
Like any astronomical target, 3C 273 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 3C 273 is a trash star
3C 273 scores 11 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 2 science badges — Star and Has a proper name — 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.