Pi

Its story

Pi Hydrae coils along one flank of Hydra, the longest constellation in the sky, a celestial serpent stretching across nearly a quarter of the heavens. It is an orange K-type giant some 101 light-years away, a star that long ago left behind the stable youth of the Sun and entered the phase in which core heat swells its outer layers. Its warm tone contrasts with the cold blue of the neighbouring constellations and lends a tepid note to the mythic monster's slow meander.