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Common star 20 EP

GL Gl 172

RA 69.4201° · Dec 52.8936° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
20 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Deep red star +8
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 20

2 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K8V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • Where it is in life. It is on the main sequence, quietly fusing hydrogen in its core exactly as the Sun does.

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 8.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Camelopardalis.
  • 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. ≈ 579.5 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
8.596
bv
1.423
constellation
Cam
dist ly
32.975
luminosity
0.0317
mag
8.62
name
GL Gl 172
spect
K8V

About GL Gl 172

GL Gl 172 is a common star. It lies about 33 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cam, shines at apparent magnitude 8.62 and has spectral type K8V.

Its spectrum reads K8V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

How to see it

Look for GL Gl 172 in the constellation Cam. At apparent magnitude 8.62, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 172 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 172 is a common star

GL Gl 172 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 5 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Orange K-type star, Main-sequence star and Deep red 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.