Botein

Its story

Botein takes its name from the Arabic «al-buṭayn», «the little belly», a reference to the body of the celestial ram in Aries. An orange K-class giant about 170 light-years away, it is an ageing star that has swollen beyond its original size and cooled to the colour of incandescent copper. Its light set out at the height of the Spanish Empire, when galleons were regularly crossing the Pacific between Manila and Acapulco.