← Back to dex
Uncommon star 32 EP

GL Gl 661B

RA 258.0311° · Dec 45.6655° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
  • 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 M3.5 — 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 10.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Hercules.
  • 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 June — 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. ≈ 362.4 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
11.396
binary
yes
constellation
Her
dist ly
20.6206
luminosity
0.0024
mag
10.4
name
GL Gl 661B
spect
M3.5

About GL Gl 661B

GL Gl 661B is an uncommon star. It lies about 20.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Her, shines at apparent magnitude 10.4 and has spectral type M3.5.

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 661B in the constellation Her. At apparent magnitude 10.4, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 661B 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 661B is an uncommon star

GL Gl 661B scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Nearby (<25 ly), 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.