astronomy

Gliese 588

Gliese 588 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 588 rather than just read about it. In short: Gliese 588 is a nearby red dwarf star of spectral type M2.5, located in the constellation Lupus at 19.30 light-years from Earth. It emits a very stable light flux, with no detectable pulsations.

Key takeaways

Gliese 588 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 588 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gliese 588 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Gliese 588 is a nearby red dwarf star of spectral type M2.5, located in the constellation Lupus at 19.30 light-years from Earth. It emits a very stable light flux, with no detectable pulsations.

History of observations According to Luyten's (1979) (catalogue LHS, as well as NLTT), this object was discovered by Innes. In 1903–1927 Innes was the director of the Union Observatory (UO), South Africa. However, in the Ci 20 catalogue (see number 934) this star was designated as "CD -40 7021", not "UO". This may indicate that GJ 588 was first catalogued earlier, in the Cordoba Durchmusterung by John M. Thome in 1894. Note: the real CD designation of Gliese 588 is "CD-40 9712", not "CD -40 7021": GJ 588 has a RA of 15 hours, but the real CD -40 7021 has a RA of 11 hours.

Search for planets In 2019, two planet candidates detected by radial velocity around Gliese 588 were reported in a preprint, among 118 planets around M dwarf stars. These would have minimum masses about 2.4 and 10.3 times that of Earth, and orbit with periods of 5.8 and 206 days. A 2024 study did not find evidence for planets around this star; radial velocity signals with different periods were detected and attributed to intrinsic stellar variability.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gliese 588

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gliese 588 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 588 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 588 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 588

In research: Gliese 588 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 588 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 588 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Discoveries by Robert T. A. Innes, Durchmusterung objects, Gliese and GJ objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gliese 588 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 588 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gliese 588 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 588 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gliese 588 in simple terms?

Gliese 588 is a nearby red dwarf star of spectral type M2.5, located in the constellation Lupus at 19.30 light-years from Earth. It emits a very stable light flux, with no detectable pulsations.

Why does Gliese 588 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 588?

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 588.