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Common star 17 EP

GL GJ 1157

RA 185.7645° · Dec -46.6268° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
  • Star +3
Total score 17

5 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads k — 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 13.6 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, 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. ≈ 830.6 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 73.8 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
12.814
bv
1.61
constellation
Cen
dist ly
47.2691
luminosity
0.0007
mag
13.62
name
GL GJ 1157
spect
k

About GL GJ 1157

GL GJ 1157 is a common star. It lies about 47.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cen, shines at apparent magnitude 13.62 and has spectral type k.

Its spectrum reads k — 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 GJ 1157 in the constellation Cen. At apparent magnitude 13.62, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 1157 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 1157 is a common star

GL GJ 1157 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 3 science badges — Star, Deep red star and Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) — 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.