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Trash star 11 EP

HD 118887

RA 204.7899° · Dec 34.2630° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
11 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 11

4 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K3IV — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • Where it is in life. It is a subgiant, caught in the act of leaving the main sequence as the hydrogen in its core runs out.

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 8.5 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Canes Venatici.
  • 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. ≈ 13.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.637
bv
1.31
constellation
CVn
dist ly
754.9908
luminosity
19.2841
mag
8.46
name
HD 118887
spect
K3IV

About HD 118887

HD 118887 is a trash star. It lies about 755 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CVn, shines at apparent magnitude 8.46 and has spectral type K3IV.

Its spectrum reads K3IV — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for HD 118887 in the constellation CVn. At apparent magnitude 8.46, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 118887 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 118887 is a trash star

HD 118887 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 3 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star and Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) — 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.