Valri

Overview
Valri is a post-AGB star, located around 5,100 light years from Solis. It is dying quickly, with its regular pulsations as a W Virginis variable a good indicator of this, as Valri is very unstable. A giant disk of gas and dust surrounds it, obscuring it from view.

Properties
Valri is very light for its luminosity. It is always in excess of 18,000 solar luminosities, yet it is barely more massive than the Sun. This is because it has lost so much mass over its lifetime, starting with a mass of nearly 2 solar masses. Valri has passed the AGB phase, and is going to become a protoplanetary nebula in as little as 24,000 years.