hip-83430

Its story

A red M-type giant burns high in Hercules at roughly 395 light years away. Its light set out around 1631, when Galileo was completing his dialogues on the two world systems and astronomy was leaving geocentrism behind for good. Cooler than the Sun, bloated and deeply orange in hue, it belongs to that family of veteran suns that have expanded their outer layers. Its infrared brilliance is striking, even though to the unaided eye it barely competes with the more famous jewels of the demigod.