hip-80898

Its story

In the silhouette of Hercules, that mythological figure crossing the northern sky, it shines orange about 841 light years away. Its light set out around the 12th century, when copyist monks were illuminating manuscripts in European scriptoria and Saladin was reorganising the Islamic world. A K-type star, cooler than the Sun and graced with that amber tone proper to mature giants. A warm, patient light that has taken centuries to arrive yet keeps its nobility intact.