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Uncommon star 26 EP

GL Gl 21

RA 6.7202° · Dec 70.1424° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M0 — 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 10.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cepheus.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — 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. ≈ 944.4 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 83.9 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
9.436
bv
1.459
constellation
Cep
dist ly
53.7414
luminosity
0.0146
mag
10.52
name
GL Gl 21
spect
M0

About GL Gl 21

GL Gl 21 is an uncommon star. It lies about 53.7 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cep, shines at apparent magnitude 10.52 and has spectral type M0.

Its spectrum reads M0 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for GL Gl 21 in the constellation Cep. At apparent magnitude 10.52, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 21 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 21 is an uncommon star

GL Gl 21 scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), 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.