← Back to dex
Common star 20 EP

GL Gl 527B

RA 206.8151° · Dec 17.4558° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 4 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • 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 M2 — 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 11 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Boötes.
  • 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 April — 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. ≈ 893.9 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
10.035
binary
yes
constellation
Boo
dist ly
50.8666
luminosity
0.0084
mag
11
name
GL Gl 527B
spect
M2

About GL Gl 527B

GL Gl 527B is a common star. It lies about 50.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude 11 and has spectral type M2.

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 527B in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 11, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 527B 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 527B is a common star

GL Gl 527B scores 20 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Binary star, Cool red M-type 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.