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Podcast: StarDate
Episode: The Footstool
Description: Mighty Orion the hunter has a mighty resting spot for his tired feet: Cursa, the second-brightest star of Eridanus, the river. The star’s name comes from a longer Arabic phrase meaning “footstool of the central one” – Orion himself. As night falls, the star stands above Orion’s foot: Rigel, the hunter’s brightest star.
Cursa is about 90 light-years away. It’s easy to see from that distance because it’s a giant. It’s several times the size and mass of the Sun, and 45 times the Sun’s brightness. Its classification as a “giant” tells us much more than just its...