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Common star 17 EP

HD 117845

RA 202.8908° · Dec 58.9529° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8
  • Main-sequence star · +2

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G2V — 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 8.1 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Ursa Major.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around April — 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. ≈ 2.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
4.806
bv
0.585
constellation
UMa
dist ly
146.6528
luminosity
1.0414
mag
8.07
name
HD 117845
spect
G2V

Nearby objects

About HD 117845

HD 117845 is a common star. It lies about 146.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 8.07 and has spectral type G2V.

Its spectrum reads G2V — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for HD 117845 in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 8.07, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 117845 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 117845 is a common star

HD 117845 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), 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.