Bet

Its story

Beta Octantis is one of the more useful beacons of the southern polar sky: the south celestial pole lies inside the Octant, and this white A-type star, 149 light-years away, ranks among its steadier references. There is no proper southern Polaris —faint Sigma Octantis only plays the role in name— so the few relatively bright stars of the Octant, this one among them, help travellers orient themselves in an almost empty patch of sky.