hip-60172

Its story

16 Virginis is an orange giant of class K0.5 that has reached the red clump: with core hydrogen exhausted, it now fuses helium in a stable phase of its evolution. Its spectrum shows a mild iron underabundance, a chemical fingerprint of its origin. At 308 light-years in Virgo, its light set out as the Royal Society of London was celebrating its early years and modern science was taking institutional shape.