When gazing into the heavens—especially from a dark location along the Blue Ridge Parkway—folks often wonder about the nature of the stars. Are any of them like our sun? Almost all stars seen on a clear night are intrinsically much larger and much brighter than the sun. But one star is neither.
High in the south at 9 p.m. hangs the Great Square of Pegasus, four stars of nearly equal brightness forming the corners of an almost square. These four luminaries are almost as bright as those of the more familiar Big Dipper.
Head north from the Square’s two eastern stars by twice the distance between them, and the “w” shape of the constellation Cassiopeia is found. This group of five stars lies smack in the plane of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Slightly northeast of the second star of the w, counting from west to east, is 19 light-year distant Eta—which is rather close as interstellar distances go.
Why is this rather unremarkable star noteworthy? Its physical values of size, mass and luminosity are very much like those of our sun. In other words, it is sun-like. Just by knowing that, one’s imagination quickly wonders: A home for life elsewhere? Rest assured that astronomers wonder that too as they examine this star very closely.
The story above first appeared in our November / December 2024 issue.
