Alnilam

Its story

Alnilam is the central pearl of Orion's Belt, a blue B-type supergiant whose brilliance travels nearly two thousand years before reaching us. The light seen tonight set out while Rome was still deciding the fate of the Mediterranean. Its Arabic name, «An-Nizam», means «the string of pearls», a nod to the three aligned stars that for centuries guided sailors and desert caravans. It is also subtly variable, a slow pulse cloaked in a faint reflection nebula of cosmic dust.