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Common star 15 EP

GL GJ 9251A

RA 121.7879° · Dec 7.3834° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
15 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • On the zodiac +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
Total score 15

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Orange K-type 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 K8+... — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 9.7 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Cancer.
  • 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.

Could we get there?

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

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
6.976
binary
yes
bv
1.211
constellation
Cnc
dist ly
114.3604
luminosity
0.1411
mag
9.7
name
GL GJ 9251A
spect
K8+...

About GL GJ 9251A

GL GJ 9251A is a common star. It lies about 114.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cnc, shines at apparent magnitude 9.7 and has spectral type K8+....

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 9251A in the constellation Cnc. At apparent magnitude 9.7, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 9251A 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 9251A is a common star

GL GJ 9251A scores 15 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 4 science badges — Star, Binary star, On the zodiac and Orange K-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.