hip-84431

Its story

Along the ribs of Hercules shines an orange K-type giant about 565 light-years away. Its light set out around 1461, when Louis XI ascended to the French throne and Europe was slowly closing out its Middle Ages. Cooler than the Sun yet far more luminous, its swollen surface radiates a gilded, unhurried glow, like an ember that has refused to die for centuries.