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Its story

99 Aquarii shines on the edge of Aquarius, where the Water-Bearer's figure dissolves toward the autumn horizon. It is an orange giant that long ago left the quiet hydrogen-burning of its youth and now puffs its outer layers into space. Its light has been travelling for 283 years —setting out when telescopes still showed Saturn's rings as blurred appendages. It arrives tonight on time, unaware of all that has changed along the way.