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Uncommon star 22 EP

GL GJ 1181A

RA 208.7607° · Dec -29.0905° · star

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Deep red star +8
  • Binary star +6
  • Star +3
  • Orange K-type star +3
  • Main-sequence star +2
Total score 22

12 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Binary star · +6
  • Orange K-type star · +3
  • Main-sequence star · +2
  • Deep red star · +8

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 K5/M0V — a K-type star. Orange K dwarfs are the marathon runners of the galaxy, burning steadily for tens of billions of years.

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 9.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope, over in Hydra.
  • 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 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. ≈ 989.4 thousand years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

absmag
8.345
binary
yes
bv
1.414
constellation
Hya
dist ly
56.3017
luminosity
0.04
mag
9.53
name
GL GJ 1181A
spect
K5/M0V

About GL GJ 1181A

GL GJ 1181A is an uncommon star. It lies about 56.3 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation Hya, shines at apparent magnitude 9.53 and has spectral type K5/M0V.

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 1181A in the constellation Hya. At apparent magnitude 9.53, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 1181A 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 1181A is an uncommon star

GL GJ 1181A scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Star, Binary star, Orange K-type star, Main-sequence star and Deep red 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.