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Rare star 38 EP

GL Gl 630.1A

RA 248.5932° · Dec 57.1602° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
38 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 38

12 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Intrinsically feeble (Mv > +12) · +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 dM4 e — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 12.9 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Draco.
  • 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.

Properties

absmag
12.094
binary
yes
bv
1.6
constellation
Dra
dist ly
47.2691
luminosity
0.0013
mag
12.9
name
GL Gl 630.1A
spect
dM4 e

About GL Gl 630.1A

GL Gl 630.1A is a rare star. It lies about 47.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Dra, shines at apparent magnitude 12.9 and has spectral type dM4 e.

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 630.1A in the constellation Dra. At apparent magnitude 12.9, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 630.1A 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 630.1A is a rare star

GL Gl 630.1A scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Star, Binary star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf 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.