Alniyat

Sig

Variable star

Its story

Alniyat, sigma Scorpii, is a blue variable that pulses beside red Antares in the very heart of the celestial scorpion. Its Arabic name «al-niyāṭ» refers to the arteries supporting the heart: a precise anatomical image for a star that literally beats. The light we see tonight travelled 697 years, set off when the Black Death was rewriting the demography of Europe.

Constellation: Scorpius
Apparent magnitude: 2.90
Distance: 697.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 245.297° · Dec -25.593°
Catalogue: HIP 80112 · HD 147165

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