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Uncommon star 26 EP

GL Gl 405

RA 163.9742° · Dec 56.0352° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M1.5 — 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 12.7 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Ursa Major.
  • 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 March — 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. ≈ 933.5 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 82.9 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
11.661
bv
1.53
constellation
UMa
dist ly
53.1197
luminosity
0.0019
mag
12.72
name
GL Gl 405
spect
M1.5

About GL Gl 405

GL Gl 405 is an uncommon star. It lies about 53.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 12.72 and has spectral type M1.5.

Its spectrum reads M1.5 — 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 405 in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 12.72, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 405 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 405 is an uncommon star

GL Gl 405 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, Never sets (northern circumpolar), 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.