Nu

Its story

Nu Virginis is a red giant on the asymptotic branch, an aged star that has exhausted the hydrogen in its core and is slowly swelling some 294 light-years from Earth. Its surface, far cooler than the Sun's, vibrates in at least four distinct periods —eleven, twelve, sixteen and twenty-four days— like an irregular percussion. It marks the classical western tip of Virgo, almost due south of bright Denebola in Leo.