hip-16803

Its story

20 Eridani is a blue-white variable star 487 light-years away, also catalogued as EG Eridani: it pulses with a very short period of 1.93 days, swinging between magnitudes 5.17 and 5.22. It is a heartbeat barely perceptible to the naked eye, yet cleanly measured by modern astronomy. It shines along the long course of the celestial River, one of many hot, fast stars peopling that meandering stream of light.