← Back to dex
Common star 20 EP

GL GJ 3230A

RA 52.6268° · Dec 20.1033° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 4 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8

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 G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 8.3 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Taurus.
  • 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 November — 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. ≈ 2.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
5.302
binary
yes
bv
0.739
constellation
Tau
dist ly
129.1196
luminosity
0.6595
mag
8.29
name
GL GJ 3230A
spect
G5

About GL GJ 3230A

GL GJ 3230A is a common star. It lies about 129.1 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Tau, shines at apparent magnitude 8.29 and has spectral type G5.

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 3230A in the constellation Tau. At apparent magnitude 8.29, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 3230A 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 3230A is a common star

GL GJ 3230A 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, On the zodiac and Sun-like G-type 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.