hip-63494

Its story

46 Virginis is an orange K-type giant along the long sweep of Virgo, that reclining figure that follows the Crow and the Cup. At 327 light-years its magnitude 5.99 corresponds to a surface cooler than the Sun's yet to a body tens of times more luminous, a hallmark of evolved giants of its class. The light glimpsed tonight left its atmosphere in the early 18th century, contemporary with the first reflecting telescopes built by Hadley.