hip-82672

Its story

In Ara, a small southern constellation, shines this red M-type giant, cool and deeply ruddy in hue. Its light set out 709 years ago, around 1315, when a catastrophic famine was devastating northern Europe through endless rains and failed harvests. Far larger and far cooler than the Sun, its intense red is that of mature, swollen stars that have abandoned spectral youth and are preparing for the final acts of their existence.