12/8/2023 0 Comments Gemini brightest starParallax measurements by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite place Pollux at a distance of about 33.78 light-years (10.36 parsecs) from the Sun. The last lunar occultation visible from Earth was on 30 September 116 BCE from high southern latitudes. Pollux is 6.7 degrees north of the ecliptic, presently too far north to be occulted by the Moon. Consequently, Pollux itself is known as 北河三 ( Běi Hé sān, English: the Third Star of North River.) Physical characteristics Size comparison of Pollux (left) and the Sun (right)Īt an apparent visual magnitude of 1.14, Pollux is the brightest star in its constellation, even brighter than its neighbor Castor (α Geminorum). In Chinese, 北河 ( Běi Hé), meaning North River, refers to an asterism consisting of Pollux, ρ Geminorum, and Castor. In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of al Achsasi al Mouakket, this star was designated Muekher al Dzira, which was translated into Latin as Posterior Brachii, meaning the end in the paw. This was because 'Leda' was already attributed to an asteroid and to one of Jupiter's satellites. At the request of the IAU, 'Thestias' (the patronym of Leda, a daughter of Thestius) was substituted. The winning name was based on that originally submitted by theSkyNet of Australia namely Leda, Pollux's mother. In December 2015, the IAU announced the winning name was Thestias for this planet. The process involved public nomination and voting for the new names. In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched NameExoWorlds, a process for giving proper names to certain exoplanets and their host stars. Originally the planet was designated Pollux b. In Percy Shelley's 1818 poem Homer's Hymn to Castor and Pollux, the star is referred to as ". mild Pollux, void of blame." Castor is a complex sextuple system of hot, bluish-white type A stars and dim red dwarfs, while Pollux is a single, cooler yellow-orange giant. ![]() ![]() The stars, however, are quite different in detail. Made with Celestia.Ĭastor and Pollux are the two "heavenly twin" stars giving the constellation Gemini ( Latin, 'the twins') its name. The Sun viewed from Pollux (in red circle) in the constellation Sagittarius. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN, which included Pollux for this star. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The traditional name Pollux refers to the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek and Roman mythology. Β Geminorum ( Latinised to Beta Geminorum) is the star's Bayer designation. Nomenclature Pollux is one of the two brightest stars in the constellation of Gemini (lower left). In 2006 an extrasolar planet (designated Pollux b or β Geminorum b, later named Thestias) was confirmed to be orbiting it. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified. This is an orange-hued, evolved giant star located at a distance of 34 light-years, making it the closest giant to the Sun. It has the Bayer designation β Geminorum, which is Latinised to Beta Geminorum and abbreviated Beta Gem or β Gem. Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation of Gemini.
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