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Trash star 14 EP

GL Gl 438

RA 175.8244° · Dec -51.8399° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
14 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Deep red star +8
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 14

1 more point to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0 — 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 10.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Centaurus.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south 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. ≈ 481.6 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 42.8 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
10.738
bv
1.53
constellation
Cen
dist ly
27.4082
luminosity
0.0044
mag
10.36
name
GL Gl 438
spect
K0

About GL Gl 438

GL Gl 438 is a trash star. It lies about 27.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 10.36 and has spectral type K0.

Its spectrum reads K0 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for GL Gl 438 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 10.36, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 438 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 438 is a trash star

GL Gl 438 scores 14 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Orange K-type star and Deep red 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.