Data source: ESA Gaia DR3
A Distant Hot Star in the Galactic Disk: Red Colors and Gaia DR3
The numbers behind the first impression
- Distance from the Sun: approximately 2,232 parsecs, which converts to about 7,300 light-years. This places the star well within the Milky Way’s disk, on the far side from our vantage point, in a region where the disk’s stellar population blends with interstellar dust.
- Apparent brightness in Gaia’s G band: phot_g_mean_mag ≈ 15.76. In practical terms, this is far too faint to see with the naked eye and would require a telescope under dark skies to study meaningfully.
- Color and temperature: The Gaia BP and RP magnitudes give phot_bp_mean_mag ≈ 18.06 and phot_rp_mean_mag ≈ 14.37, yielding a BP−RP color of roughly 3.69 magnitudes. That is strikingly red. Yet the star’s effective temperature estimate, teff_gspphot ≈ 32,174 K, points to a hot, blue-white photosphere. The juxtaposition is a telling clue about the star’s journey through dust and gas in the Galactic plane.
- Physical size: radius_gspphot ≈ 5.40 R⊙, indicating a star somewhat larger than the Sun. At such a high temperature, a large radius corresponds to substantial luminosity, even when observed through interstellar fog.
: RA ≈ 268.43°, Dec ≈ −31.84°. This places the star in the southern sky, along a line of sight that traverses the inner Galactic disk toward the region around the Galactic center. - Notes on data fields: The fields radius_flame and mass_flame are NaN for this source in DR3, meaning that particular modeling outputs aren’t available here.
Temperature, color, and the reddening puzzle
“Distance is the shadow cast by light across the sea of stars.”
What this star contributes to our understanding of the Galactic disk
For sky explorers using modern catalogs, this object also demonstrates the value of Gaia’s distance ladder in a practical sense. The star’s location near the Galactic center direction means it resides in a region where the disk’s structure, spiral arms, and dust lanes converge. Each catalog entry like this one acts as a waypoint on a larger chart—one that maps how far and how bright stars can appear once we account for the geometry and the dust-rich environment of our Milky Way.
How to view and what to do next
If you’re curious to dive deeper, consider exploring Gaia DR3’s public archive. You can examine the same measurements for this star and compare them with other nearby hot stars to see how extinction varies with distance and direction in the disk. While the sky may look calm to the naked eye, Gaia’s data reveal a dynamic, layered galaxy where light travels through a complex medium before it reaches Earth.
In the spirit of curiosity, this star’s story invites us to observe the galaxy with both wonder and critical thinking: a hot, luminous surface whose blue glow is softened by dust, located far from our Sun but still part of the same celestial neighborhood we seek to understand.
Ready to explore more of Gaia’s stellar map? See how you can browse the Gaia archive and discover stars like Gaia DR3 4043652747878108032 to illuminate the workings of the Milky Way.
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This star, though unnamed in human records, is one among billions charted by ESA’s Gaia mission. Each article in this collection brings visibility to the silent majority of our galaxy — stars known only by their light.