← Back to dex
Trash star 14 EP

GL Gl 521

RA 204.8505° · Dec 46.1865° · star

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 3 badges
14 pts · Trash
Trash 15 pts → Common
  • Red dwarf +6
  • Cool red M-type star +5
  • Star +3
Total score 14

1 more point to reach Common.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • 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 10.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Canes Venatici.
  • 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 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. ≈ 745.6 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 66.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
9.669
bv
1.368
constellation
CVn
dist ly
42.4296
luminosity
0.0118
mag
10.24
name
GL Gl 521
spect
M2

About GL Gl 521

GL Gl 521 is a trash star. It lies about 42.4 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation CVn, shines at apparent magnitude 10.24 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 521 in the constellation CVn. At apparent magnitude 10.24, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL Gl 521 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 521 is a trash star

GL Gl 521 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 3 science badges — Star, 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.