Avior is an orange supergiant in the keel of Argo, one corner of the False Cross, a star swollen far beyond the Sun and shining from deep in the southern sky.
At a glance
| type | orange giant (class K) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 605 light-years (186 pc) |
| its light left it | 605 years ago |
| luminosity | 8,550 × the Sun |
| radius | 146 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 4,600 K |
| constellation | Carina (Keel) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Avior
The facts above describe a star near the end of its life: a cool, enormous supergiant, its outer layers spread so wide that its surface is far cooler than the Sun’s even though it pours out vastly more light. It burned through the hydrogen in its core long ago and has swollen as it moves on to heavier fuel.
Avior is not alone. A hotter blue companion orbits close to it, and the pair is known to eclipse, the light dipping slightly as one star passes in front of the other.
The name is not ancient. It was given to the star for navigators, when it was chosen as one of the bright stars used to fix a position at sea. With Aspidiske, Markeb and Alsephina it forms the False Cross, an asterism often mistaken for the Southern Cross.
What you see in the piece
In the piece Avior is drawn at its true distance with its real brightness, its orange the colour of its cool surface. Fly out towards it and the False Cross comes apart: its four stars lie at very different depths and only line up from the Earth.
Questions
How far away is Avior?
Avior is 605 light-years (186 pc) from the Sun, so the light you see left it 605 years ago.
What is the False Cross?
An asterism of four stars in Carina and Vela, Avior, Aspidiske, Markeb and Alsephina, larger and dimmer than the Southern Cross and easily confused with it.