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Uncommon star 26 EP

GL Gl 118.2C

RA 43.8978° · Dec 26.8722° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +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 m — 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 13.9 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Aries.
  • 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 November — 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. ≈ 1.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
12.063
binary
yes
bv
1.58
constellation
Ari
dist ly
74.6183
luminosity
0.0013
mag
13.86
name
GL Gl 118.2C
spect
m

About GL Gl 118.2C

GL Gl 118.2C is an uncommon star. It lies about 74.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ari, shines at apparent magnitude 13.86 and has spectral type m.

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 118.2C in the constellation Ari. At apparent magnitude 13.86, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 118.2C 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 118.2C is an uncommon star

GL Gl 118.2C scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Binary star, On the zodiac, Deep red star and Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) — 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.