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Rare star 39 EP

GL Gl 781.1B

RA 301.9382° · Dec -31.7546° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
39 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Toward the galactic centre +8
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
Total score 39

11 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Toward the galactic centre · +8
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • 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 12.5 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures, over in Sagittarius.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • 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. ≈ 836.8 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
11.678
binary
yes
bv
1.63
constellation
Sgr
dist ly
47.6211
luminosity
0.0019
mag
12.5
name
GL Gl 781.1B
spect
M3.5

About GL Gl 781.1B

GL Gl 781.1B is a rare star. It lies about 47.6 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Sgr, shines at apparent magnitude 12.5 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 781.1B in the constellation Sgr. At apparent magnitude 12.5, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 781.1B 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 781.1B is a rare star

GL Gl 781.1B scores 39 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Star, Binary star, Toward the galactic centre, On the zodiac, Cool red M-type star, Deep red 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.