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Uncommon star 28 EP

GL Gl 164

RA 63.2437° · Dec 52.6129° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
28 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 28

6 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M3.5 — 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 13.5 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Perseus.
  • 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. ≈ 761.2 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 67.6 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
12.884
bv
1.67
constellation
Per
dist ly
43.3142
luminosity
0.0006
mag
13.5
name
GL Gl 164
spect
M3.5

About GL Gl 164

GL Gl 164 is an uncommon star. It lies about 43.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Per, shines at apparent magnitude 13.5 and has spectral type M3.5.

Its spectrum reads M3.5 — 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 Gl 164 in the constellation Per. At apparent magnitude 13.5, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 164 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 164 is an uncommon star

GL Gl 164 scores 28 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf 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.