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Trash star 12 EP

GL GJ 3868A

RA 222.7596° · Dec 9.7237° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
12 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 12

3 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Not one star but two. It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0... — 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 7.4 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Boötes.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around May — 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. ≈ 1.7 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.055
binary
yes
bv
0.76
constellation
Boo
dist ly
96.0128
luminosity
0.8279
mag
7.4
name
GL GJ 3868A
spect
K0...

About GL GJ 3868A

GL GJ 3868A is a trash star. It lies about 96 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude 7.4 and has spectral type K0....

It is a binary: two stars orbiting a shared centre of mass. More than half of all the 'stars' you can see are actually multiple systems.

How to see it

Look for GL GJ 3868A in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 7.4, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 3868A 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 GJ 3868A is a trash star

GL GJ 3868A scores 12 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Binary 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.