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Uncommon variable star 25 EP

GL GJ 3711A

RA 182.8660° · Dec 53.4215° · star

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
25 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Binary star +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Gently variable +4
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 25

9 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Binary star · +6
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Orange K-type star · +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

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads K0 — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.
  • 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 8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, 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 March — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

absmag
5.564
binary
yes
bv
0.88
constellation
UMa
dist ly
98.3285
luminosity
0.5181
mag
7.96
name
GL GJ 3711A
spect
K0
var amplitude
0.39
var designation
MZ
var max
7.897
var min
8.287

About GL GJ 3711A

GL GJ 3711A is an uncommon variable star. It lies about 98.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMa, shines at apparent magnitude 7.96 and has spectral type K0.

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 3711A in the constellation UMa. At apparent magnitude 7.96, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 3711A 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 3711A is an uncommon variable star

GL GJ 3711A scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Variable star, Binary star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Orange K-type star, 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.