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Common star 19 EP

HD 123434

RA 212.3454° · Dec -56.8356° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
19 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) +5
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 19

3 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) · +5
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K2IV/V: — 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 8.7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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 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. ≈ 16.8 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
1.37
bv
1.458
constellation
Cen
dist ly
953.6726
luminosity
24.6604
mag
8.7
name
HD 123434
spect
K2IV/V:

About HD 123434

HD 123434 is a common star. It lies about 953.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 8.7 and has spectral type K2IV/V:.

Its spectrum reads K2IV/V: — 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 123434 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 8.7, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 123434 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 123434 is a common star

HD 123434 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 4 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star, Subgiant (leaving the main sequence) 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.