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Common variable star 17 EP

GL Gl 268

RA 107.5079° · Dec 38.5295° · star

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Score breakdown

· 2 badges
17 pts · Common
Common 24 pts → Uncommon
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Variable star +5
Total score 17

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12

Trivia

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 360.8 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 32.1 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.
  • At 10% light speed. ≈ 205 years in a starship at a tenth of light speed.
  • Distance. 20.5 light-years from Earth.

Look-back time

  • Look-back time. The light you'd see left around the year 2005.

Saying hello

  • Say hello. A radio message and its reply would take 41.1 years round-trip.

Properties

absmag
12.655
bv
1.7
constellation
Aur
dist ly
20.5299
mag
11.65
name
GL Gl 268
spect
M5Ve

About GL Gl 268

GL Gl 268 is a common variable star. It lies about 20.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Aur, shines at apparent magnitude 11.65 and has spectral type M5Ve.

GL Gl 268 is a common variable star worth 17 points across 2 science badges. Explore its facts, badges and place on the sky map, then add it to your dex on Spacedle.

How to see it

Look for GL Gl 268 in the constellation Aur. At apparent magnitude 11.65, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 268 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 268 is a common variable star

GL Gl 268 scores 17 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 2 science badges — Variable star and Nearby (<25 ly) — 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.

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Sky imagery and survey data courtesy of Aladin Lite & CDS, Strasbourg. Object data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, JPL Small-Body Database, and the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue.