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Trash star 9 EP

GL GJ 4288A

RA 339.5970° · Dec -29.3506° · star

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Score breakdown

· 2 badges
9 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
Total score 9

6 more points to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +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 m — 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 10.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Piscis Austrinus.
  • 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 August — 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. ≈ 807.2 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
10.176
binary
yes
constellation
PsA
dist ly
45.9374
luminosity
0.0074
mag
10.92
name
GL GJ 4288A
spect
m

About GL GJ 4288A

GL GJ 4288A is a trash star. It lies about 45.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation PsA, shines at apparent magnitude 10.92 and has spectral type m.

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 GJ 4288A in the constellation PsA. At apparent magnitude 10.92, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 4288A 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 GJ 4288A is a trash star

GL GJ 4288A scores 9 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 2 science badges — Star and Binary 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.