hip-1728

Its story

A vast red M-type giant glows within the figure of Cetus, the celestial whale, breathing in slow pulsations of light. Far cooler than the Sun yet hundreds of times its size, its glow began this voyage almost nine centuries ago, when Gothic cathedrals were rising across Europe and astronomy still travelled in Arabic manuscripts. Across 882 light-years its red breathing arrives tonight, a slow heartbeat older than most stones standing in any city of the world.