RA 213.9154° · Dec 19.1824° · star
22 more points to reach Anomaly.
Arcturus is an epic star. It lies about 36.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude -0.05 and has spectral type K2IIIp.
Its spectrum reads K2IIIp — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
Look for Arcturus in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude -0.05, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.
Like any astronomical target, Arcturus 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.
Arcturus scores 56 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 22 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Star, Brilliant (mag < 1), Has a proper name, Orange K-type star, Giant star and Arcturus — 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.