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Common star 20 EP

GL GJ 1278

RA 346.1247° · Dec 66.7644° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M1V: — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 9.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cepheus.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — 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).

Properties

absmag
8.334
bv
1.392
constellation
Cep
dist ly
65.8636
luminosity
0.0404
mag
9.86
name
GL GJ 1278
spect
M1V:

About GL GJ 1278

GL GJ 1278 is a common star. It lies about 65.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cep, shines at apparent magnitude 9.86 and has spectral type M1V:.

Its spectrum reads M1V: — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for GL GJ 1278 in the constellation Cep. At apparent magnitude 9.86, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 1278 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 1278 is a common star

GL GJ 1278 scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Cool red M-type star, Main-sequence star and Red dwarf — 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.