Rare Stars – PHL 417 and the V366 Aquariids

By Prof. Simon Jeffery Enter the name ‘PHL 417’ in the public database which tells you nearly everything known about nearly every star in the sky, and you will find an almost blank entry.  It is enigmatically identified as a ‘Blue object’ of the 17th magnitude, or about 200,000 times fainter than the faintest stars visible to the naked eye. It has no other names, and no scientific Read more…