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Uncommon star 26 EP

GL Gl 566B

RA 222.8473° · Dec 19.0992° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
  • Binary star · +6
  • 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 K4 Ve — 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 7 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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 May — 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. ≈ 384 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
7.84
binary
yes
bv
1.16
constellation
Boo
dist ly
21.8515
luminosity
0.0637
mag
6.97
name
GL Gl 566B
spect
K4 Ve

About GL Gl 566B

GL Gl 566B is an uncommon star. It lies about 21.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Boo, shines at apparent magnitude 6.97 and has spectral type K4 Ve.

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 566B in the constellation Boo. At apparent magnitude 6.97, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 566B 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 566B is an uncommon star

GL Gl 566B 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, Nearby (<25 ly), Binary star, 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.