hip-83057

Its story

In southern Ara burns a blue star at 519 light-years. Its light departed in the early sixteenth century, when Magellan was preparing the expedition that would complete the first circumnavigation and the Spanish court was looking toward the Pacific. It is a class B star, several times hotter than the Sun, with intense emission in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. It is part of the steady scenery of a constellation little celebrated by the ancients.