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Common star 15 EP

GL GJ 3859

RA 217.3439° · Dec 80.8099° · star

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
15 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Sun-like G-type star +8
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) +4
  • Star +3
Total score 15

7 more points to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Star · +3
  • Never sets (northern circumpolar) · +4
  • Sun-like G-type star · +8

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Spectral class. Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

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 6.9 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in, over in Ursa Minor.
  • 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. ≈ 1.1 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 101.3 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

absmag
5.387
bv
0.774
constellation
UMi
dist ly
64.8809
luminosity
0.6098
mag
6.88
name
GL GJ 3859
spect
G5

About GL GJ 3859

GL GJ 3859 is a common star. It lies about 64.9 light-years from Earth, sits in the constellation UMi, shines at apparent magnitude 6.88 and has spectral type G5.

Its spectrum reads G5 — a G-type star: the very same spectral class as our own Sun.

How to see it

Look for GL GJ 3859 in the constellation UMi. At apparent magnitude 6.88, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, GL GJ 3859 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 3859 is a common star

GL GJ 3859 scores 15 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Star, Never sets (northern circumpolar) and Sun-like G-type 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.