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Uncommon star 30 EP

GL Gl 4B

RA 1.4144° · Dec 45.8116° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
30 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 30

4 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6

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 M0.5 V — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

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 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Andromeda.
  • 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 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. ≈ 673.5 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
8.67
binary
yes
bv
1.45
constellation
And
dist ly
38.3263
luminosity
0.0296
mag
9.02
name
GL Gl 4B
spect
M0.5 V

About GL Gl 4B

GL Gl 4B is an uncommon star. It lies about 38.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation And, shines at apparent magnitude 9.02 and has spectral type M0.5 V.

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 Gl 4B in the constellation And. At apparent magnitude 9.02, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 4B 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 4B is an uncommon star

GL Gl 4B scores 30 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Star, Binary star, Cool red M-type star, Main-sequence star, Deep red 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.