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Common star 17 EP

GL Gl 864

RA 339.0403° · Dec -0.8417° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K5 — 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 10 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Aquarius.
  • 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 August — 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. ≈ 981.1 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 87.2 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
8.813
bv
1.411
constellation
Aqr
dist ly
55.8294
luminosity
0.026
mag
9.98
name
GL Gl 864
spect
K5

About GL Gl 864

GL Gl 864 is a common star. It lies about 55.8 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aqr, shines at apparent magnitude 9.98 and has spectral type K5.

Its spectrum reads K5 — 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 864 in the constellation Aqr. At apparent magnitude 9.98, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 864 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 864 is a common star

GL Gl 864 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, On the zodiac, Orange K-type star 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.