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Common variable star 21 EP

GL Gl 323A

RA 132.6760° · Dec 7.8646° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Binary star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Gently variable +4
  • On the zodiac +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Binary star · +6
  • On the zodiac · +3
  • Gently variable · +4
  • 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

  • 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 9.1 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 February — 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. ≈ 1.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
7.262
binary
yes
bv
0.746
constellation
Cnc
dist ly
75.3247
luminosity
0.1084
mag
9.08
name
GL Gl 323A
var amplitude
0.1
var designation
HP
var max
9.023
var min
9.123

About GL Gl 323A

GL Gl 323A is a common variable star. It lies about 75.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Cnc and shines at apparent magnitude 9.08.

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 323A in the constellation Cnc. At apparent magnitude 9.08, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 323A 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 323A is a common variable star

GL Gl 323A 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 5 science badges — Variable star, Binary star, On the zodiac, Gently variable 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.