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Trash star 6 EP

GL Gl 558

RA 218.7412° · Dec 33.7467° · star

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Score breakdown

· 2 badges
6 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 6

9 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K8 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 9.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Boötes.
  • 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. ≈ 1.2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 103 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
8.01
bv
1.283
constellation
Boo
dist ly
65.9833
luminosity
0.0545
mag
9.54
name
GL Gl 558
spect
K8

About GL Gl 558

GL Gl 558 is a trash star. It lies about 66 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude 9.54 and has spectral type K8.

Its spectrum reads K8 — 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 GL Gl 558 in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 9.54, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 558 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 GL Gl 558 is a trash star

GL Gl 558 scores 6 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 2 science badges — Star and Orange K-type 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.