Eps

Its story

Epsilon Muscae is a red M-type variable giant about 301 light-years away, perched in the small constellation of the Fly beside the Southern Cross. Its brightness drifts slowly because the entire star is pulsating, swelling and contracting like an immensely slow bell. Each beat alters its size, its temperature and its colour —a stellar respiration invisible to the naked eye but steady in telescopic records.