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Its story

Eridanus, the celestial river meandering through the south, holds a cool red M-type giant at the considerable distance of 1510 light-years. Its light set out in the sixth century, when Benedict of Nursia was drafting at Monte Cassino the rule that would underpin Western monasticism. This garnet ember at magnitude 6.00, right at the limit of the naked eye, crossed the entire Middle Ages to reach today’s sky.