Tau-2

Its story

Tau-2 Aquarii belongs to the scattered company of stars that sketch the celestial Water Bearer, a figure linked to the Babylonian flood and to the release of the waters across the sky. At 318 light-years, this orange K-type giant moves through the late phase of its life, swollen and cooled from the heat of its youth. It accompanies in the southern sky the mythical jug that Aquarius empties toward the mouth of Piscis Austrinus.