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Uncommon star 28 EP

GL GJ 3406A

RA 100.9577° · Dec 51.1407° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
28 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 28

6 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • 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 M3.5 J — 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 12.4 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Lynx.
  • 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 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).

Properties

absmag
11.024
binary
yes
bv
1.59
constellation
Lyn
dist ly
62.6021
luminosity
0.0034
mag
12.44
name
GL GJ 3406A
spect
M3.5 J

About GL GJ 3406A

GL GJ 3406A is an uncommon star. It lies about 62.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Lyn, shines at apparent magnitude 12.44 and has spectral type M3.5 J.

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 GJ 3406A in the constellation Lyn. At apparent magnitude 12.44, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 3406A 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 3406A is an uncommon star

GL GJ 3406A 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, Binary star, 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.