hip-38200

Its story

In the Stern of the Argo burns a rare red giant 758 light-years away, one of those cold, enormous embers that sculpt the southern sky. Its light set out as the Mongols reached the gates of Europe and Marco Polo was preparing to cross Asia. A class-M sun, swollen to immoderate size and far cooler than ours, it pulses with a reddish gleam that betrays its burning old age.