astronomy

Gliese 526

Gliese 526 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gliese 526 rather than just read about it. In short: GJ 526 (Lalande 25372, Wolf 498) is a red dwarf star in the northern constellation of Boötes. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.5, which is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

Key takeaways

Gliese 526 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gliese 526 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gliese 526 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

GJ 526 (Lalande 25372, Wolf 498) is a red dwarf star in the northern constellation of Boötes. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.5, which is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 0.184 arcseconds as measured by the Hipparcos satellite, this system is 17.7 light-years (5.43 parsecs) from Earth.

History of observations This star is known at least from 1801, when it was included to Lalande's stellar catalogue Histoire céleste française. In 1847 edition of Lalande's catalogue by Francis Baily it was assigned number 25372, since it sometimes designated as Lalande 25372 or LAL 25372. High proper motion of this star and its large parallax were known at least from 1911, when Frank Schlesinger published a paper where he announced its parallax 152±7 mas and mentioned its proper motion value of 2.3 arcseconds. In 1919, German astronomer Max Wolf included GJ 526 in his catalogue of high-proper-motion stars, giving it the identifier 498.

Properties

GJ 526 is a flare star, which means it undergoes sporadic increases in brightness of up to 1–6 magnitudes. It is a main-sequence red dwarf with a stellar classification of M1.5 V. GJ 526 is smaller than the Sun, with 47% of the mass and 49% of the radius. It shines with just 3.6% of the luminosity of the Sun, with its stellar atmosphere radiating at an effective temperature of 3,678 K. GJ 526 has been examined for an excess of radiation in the infrared. The presence of an infrared excess can be taken as an indication of a debris disk orbiting the star. However, no such excess was discovered around GJ 526.

References

Notes

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gliese 526

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gliese 526 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gliese 526 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gliese 526 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gliese 526

In research: Gliese 526 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gliese 526 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gliese 526 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Boötes, Durchmusterung objects, Flare stars, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gliese 526 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gliese 526 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gliese 526 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gliese 526 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gliese 526 in simple terms?

GJ 526 (Lalande 25372, Wolf 498) is a red dwarf star in the northern constellation of Boötes. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.5, which is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

Why does Gliese 526 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gliese 526?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gliese 526.