Tau

Its story

Tau Aurigae inhabits the Charioteer, that pentagonal northern winter constellation that seems to cradle a goat and two kids on its arm. It is a yellow G-type star, a spectral cousin of the Sun but lying 207 light-years away, which gives a sense of how much larger and more luminous it is to register from such a distance with its modest gleam. Its warm tone recalls a candle in the night, a friendly bonfire among the cooler and hotter stars surrounding it.