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Rare variable star 35 EP

GL Gl 487

RA 192.2630° · Dec 66.1102° · star

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
35 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Deep red star +8
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Variable star +5
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Gently variable +4
  • A named variable star +3
Total score 35

15 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Variable star · +5
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Cool red M-type star · +5
  • Deep red star · +8
  • Red dwarf · +6
  • Gently variable · +4
  • A named variable star · +3

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads M4 — an M-type red star — and M stars are the silent majority: roughly three of every four stars in the galaxy are one.
  • 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 10.9 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Draco.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around April — 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. ≈ 585.4 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
10.894
bv
1.626
constellation
Dra
dist ly
33.3119
luminosity
0.0038
mag
10.94
name
GL Gl 487
spect
M4
var amplitude
0.15
var designation
DP
var max
10.857
var min
11.007

About GL Gl 487

GL Gl 487 is a rare variable star. It lies about 33.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Dra, shines at apparent magnitude 10.94 and has spectral type M4.

Its spectrum reads M4 — 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 487 in the constellation Dra. At apparent magnitude 10.94, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 487 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 487 is a rare variable star

GL Gl 487 scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Variable star, Never sets (northern circumpolar), Cool red M-type star, Deep red star, Red dwarf, 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.