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Its story

Theta Ophiuchi stands in the southern foot of the Serpent Bearer, set against the rich star fields that face the centre of the Milky Way. A blue type B giant some 436 light-years away, it belongs to the Scorpius–Centaurus association, a brotherhood of young, massive stars born from the same gas. Its brightness varies with the subtlety of beta Cephei pulsations —internal heartbeats barely visible to the naked eye— that betray the restlessness of a body destined for a brief, luminous life.