Xi

Its story

Xi Aurigae sits in the body of the Charioteer, not far from dazzling Capella. A white type A star some 238 light-years away, its cold, intense light is typical of stars that burn with surface temperatures well above the Sun's. It belongs to the discreet fabric that fills the pentagonal figure of the Charioteer, the winter constellation whose bright vertices have been used for centuries to find one's bearings on cold northern nights.