Alsephina

Its story

Alsephina burns 80.6 light-years away in Vela, a white class-A star whose brightness pulses with subtle variability, as though breathing. Its name, recovered from the Arabic «al-safina», recalls the great Argo, the mythical ship that carried Jason to the Golden Fleece before modern cartographers split it into keel, sail and stern. As a variable star, looking twice at different moments literally means not seeing the same light.