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Common star 17 EP

GL Gl 340B

RA 139.4751° · Dec 28.5620° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2

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 K3 V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 8.1 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Cancer.
  • 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 February — 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 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
6.881
binary
yes
constellation
Cnc
dist ly
57.1703
luminosity
0.154
mag
8.1
name
GL Gl 340B
spect
K3 V

About GL Gl 340B

GL Gl 340B is a common star. It lies about 57.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cnc, shines at apparent magnitude 8.1 and has spectral type K3 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 340B in the constellation Cnc. At apparent magnitude 8.1, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 340B 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 340B is a common star

GL Gl 340B scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Binary star, On the zodiac, Orange K-type star and Main-sequence star — 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.