Alp

Its story

Alpha Monocerotis presides over the modest constellation of the Unicorn, drawn in the seventeenth century on a patch of sky the ancients had left unfigured, right between Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Orion. An orange type K giant some 148 light-years away, its warm tone contrasts with the blazing blue of its neighbours. It marks the discreet heart of a mythical creature that rides among some of the most spectacular star fields of the winter sky.