Alphard

Its story

Alphard means «the solitary one» in Arabic: an orange giant 180 light-years from the Earth, reigning almost without visible company around it over the long, sprawling constellation of Hydra. Its apparent loneliness so struck medieval astronomers that the name has survived intact for a thousand years, with no other tradition managing to displace it. Its warm glow, strong enough to pierce the light pollution of any European city without losing presence, carries the particular stillness of things set apart from everything else and yet still managing to make themselves noticed.