hip-80480

Its story

Near the northern celestial pole, in Ursa Minor, pulses a yellow-white star slightly hotter than the Sun, about 140 light-years away. Its light set out around 1886, when Hertz was proving in Karlsruhe the existence of electromagnetic waves and opening the door to radio. Its pale tone lets it slip almost unnoticed among the markers that guide travellers toward the Pole Star.