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Trash star 14 EP

GL Gl 421B

RA 168.8370° · Dec -18.1450° · star

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
14 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 14

1 more point to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2

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 K7V — 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.

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 Crater.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around March — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
9.199
binary
yes
bv
1.34
constellation
Crt
dist ly
46.5206
luminosity
0.0182
mag
9.97
name
GL Gl 421B
spect
K7V

About GL Gl 421B

GL Gl 421B is a trash star. It lies about 46.5 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Crt, shines at apparent magnitude 9.97 and has spectral type K7V.

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 421B in the constellation Crt. At apparent magnitude 9.97, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 421B 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 421B is a trash star

GL Gl 421B scores 14 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Star, Binary star, Orange K-type star and Main-sequence 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.