Gam-1

Its story

Gamma-1 Octantis belongs to the small, forgotten constellation of the Octant, the navigational instrument that Lacaille placed around the southern celestial pole. A yellow type G giant some 265 light-years away, it shines in a region of the firmament devoid of conspicuous stars, where Earth's rotation axis points without the favour that Polaris grants to the north. A modest beacon, yet a faithful companion of the invisible pole.