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Common star 20 EP

GL Gl 771B

RA 298.8263° · Dec 6.4050° · star

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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 M3 — 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 11.4 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Aquila.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around July — 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. ≈ 785.7 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
10.715
binary
yes
constellation
Aql
dist ly
44.7095
luminosity
0.0045
mag
11.4
name
GL Gl 771B
spect
M3

About GL Gl 771B

GL Gl 771B is a common star. It lies about 44.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aql, shines at apparent magnitude 11.4 and has spectral type M3.

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 771B in the constellation Aql. At apparent magnitude 11.4, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 771B 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 771B is a common star

GL Gl 771B 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.