← Back to dex
Common variable star 21 EP

GL Gl 282A

RA 114.9972° · Dec -3.5975° · star

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

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 6 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Binary star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) +2
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Binary star · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) · +2
  • A named variable star · +3

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 K2V — 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.
  • It changes. This star does not hold still: its brightness rises and falls on a rhythm of hours, days or years, either pulsing in size or being eclipsed by a companion.

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 7.2 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Monoceros.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around January — that's when to go looking.

Properties

absmag
6.417
binary
yes
bv
0.891
constellation
Mon
dist ly
46.3487
luminosity
0.2362
mag
7.18
name
GL Gl 282A
spect
K2V
var amplitude
0.05
var designation
V869
var max
7.154
var min
7.204

About GL Gl 282A

GL Gl 282A is a common variable star. It lies about 46.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Mon, shines at apparent magnitude 7.18 and has spectral type K2V.

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 Gl 282A in the constellation Mon. At apparent magnitude 7.18, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 282A 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 282A is a common variable star

GL Gl 282A scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Binary star, Orange K-type star, Main-sequence star, Barely variable (under 0.05 mag) and A named variable 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.