Tau

Its story

Tau Octantis belongs to the Octant, the constellation that wraps the south celestial pole; around that invisible point all the stars of the southern hemisphere wheel. An orange K-type giant about 486 light-years away, it shares the sky with the southern pole star yet outshines it on the charts that detail this region. To an observer in the deep south of the planet it seems almost still, riding high above the horizon, guarding the silent axis around which the entire universe appears to turn night after night.