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Common star 18 EP

GL Gl 378

RA 150.5914° · Dec 48.0888° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
18 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 18

4 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Red dwarf · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

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 10 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Ursa Major.
  • 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 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. ≈ 865.3 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 76.9 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
9.136
bv
1.359
constellation
UMa
dist ly
49.2385
luminosity
0.0193
mag
10.03
name
GL Gl 378
spect
M2

About GL Gl 378

GL Gl 378 is a common star. It lies about 49.2 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 10.03 and has spectral type M2.

Its spectrum reads M2 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.

How to see it

Look for GL Gl 378 in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 10.03, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 378 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 378 is a common star

GL Gl 378 scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Cool red M-type star and Red dwarf — 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.