hip-47006

Its story

26 Ursae Majoris is a blue-white A-type star lying about 262 light-years away, tucked inside the borders of the Great Bear but well off the bright stroke of the Plough. It belongs to that family of young, fast-burning suns —hotter, sharper and far more luminous than our own. Its glow has been travelling for over two and a half centuries, a faint signal launched while early modern sky catalogues were still being drafted.