← Back to dex
Uncommon star 28 EP

GL Gl 204.2

RA 82.4649° · Dec -3.4404° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
28 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • In Orion's hunting ground +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 28

6 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • In Orion's hunting ground · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +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 12 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Orion.
  • 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 December — 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. ≈ 1.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 95.9 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
10.645
bv
1.53
constellation
Ori
dist ly
61.423
luminosity
0.0048
mag
12.02
name
GL Gl 204.2
spect
M3.5

About GL Gl 204.2

GL Gl 204.2 is an uncommon star. It lies about 61.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Ori, shines at apparent magnitude 12.02 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 204.2 in the constellation Ori. At apparent magnitude 12.02, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 204.2 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 204.2 is an uncommon star

GL Gl 204.2 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, In Orion's hunting ground, Cool red M-type 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.