Castor
Related Category: Astronomy: Stars
(ks´tr), bright star in the constellation Gemini; Bayer designation &agr; Geminorum; 1992 position R.A. 7h34.1m, Dec. +31°54&minut;.
Castor (star)
Castor (α Gem / α Geminorum / Alpha Geminorum) is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky.
Castor Aa
Castor Aa is a main sequence dwarf bluish-white star of spectral and luminosity type A1 V. Given its shared spectral type with well known neighbor Sirius A, Star Aa probably has a similar mass around 2.15 Solar.
CASTOR (Alpha Geminorum). In classical mythology, Castor is the mortal twin of Pollux, the twin warriors whose stars dominate the bright zodiacal constellation of Gemini.
Castor is the 20th brightest star in the sky. Take a look at the list of the Brightest Stars ...
Castor B consists of two stars revolving in a circular orbit with a period of 2.9 days. Both stars are of type A5 according to Burnham. Each star is about 1.5 times the diameter of the sun and 6 times its luminosity. The total mass of the pair is 2.
Castor ( Geminorum)
A visual triple system about 14 pc distant. Each component is itself a spectroscopic binary. Component A is A 1 V, with a period of 9.22 days; component B is Am5 with a period of 2.93 days.
Castor
Notes on the Streams
alpha-Centaurids Past records of the alpha-Centaurids report many very bright objects, some of fire-ball class (magnitude -3 or brighter), with persistent trains.
Castor and Pollux were members of the Argonauts, who sailed with Jason to find the Golden Fleece.
Castor and Pollux were also known as the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. Castor was the master of horses and Pollux was a master soldier and fighter.
Castor and Polydeuces grew up inseparable and were part of many tales, including the myth of the Golden Fleece. When they clashed with another pair of brothers over two beautiful women, Castor, the mortal twin, was killed.
Castor and Polydeuces grew up the closest of friends, never quarrelling or acting without consulting each other. They were said to look alike and even to dress alike, as identical twins often do.
Castor was a great horseman and fighter. One of his pupils was Heracles. Like Heracles, both Castor and Pollux would become Argonauts, that is, join Jason in his quest for the golden fleece.
Castor and Pollux, the "twins" of Gemini, were Greek heroes. They were among the men Jason led on his voyages on the Argo.
This is one of the 13 constellations of the Zodiac.
Castor and Pollux are 5 degrees apart and so they are a useful measuring guide.
Once you've found them try to figure out how many of your fingers it takes to cover the distance between them.
Castor and Pollux
In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra , Phoebe, Heracles, Philonoe....
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The Castor co-moving group of stars containing Vega and Fomalhaut has recently been isolated. Using data from the Hipparcos satellite telescope the Castor group was found to have an estimated age of 200 ± 100 million years.
See Castor. [H76]
General Precession
The sum of the lunisolar and the planetary precession(q.v.). It causes the ecliptic longitude to increase at a constant rate (50".27 per year) but has no effect on ecliptic latitude. [H76] ...
The two brightest stars alpha Gem, Castor, and beta Gem, Pollux, are worth for observations: Castor has a bightness of 1.6 mag.
Castor and Pollux), in astronomy, the third sign in the zodiac, denoted by the symbol II.
Astronomically, Castor was discovered to be a visual binary in 1719, with the magnitude of its components being 2.8 and 2.0. The separation of the components is about 6" and the period of revolution is around 350 years.
Gemini (the Twins) is easily visualised as two figures holding hands, their heads represented by the stars Castor and Pollux.
As with the original Athena, the new "Athena 1C" uses a first stage with an ATK Castor 120 solid-fuel motor, but uses Castor 30 second and third stages, the Castor 30 having been developed for the Orbital Sciences Minotaur booster.
A real example of a system with hierarchy 3 is Castor, also known as Alpha Geminorum or α Gem. It consists of what appears to be a visual binary star which, upon closer inspection, can be seen to consist of two spectroscopic binary stars.
19(b) compares the results of a pair of observations of a nearby double star called Castor. Spectroscopic observations long ago revealed the double nature of this object, which appears to be a binary-star system.
Los Griegos antiguos vieron los gemelos Castor y Pollux, hijos de Leda y Zeus. Los Romanos vieron a los hermanos, Rómulo y Remus, dos héroes que fundaron Roma.
Argo Navis immortalizes the ship on which Argonauts (including Castor and Pollux, Hercules, Asclepius, Cepheus and Orpheus) sailed to find Golden Fleece.
The twins of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, were sons of Zeus and the mortal woman Leda. They were brothers of Helen of Troy.
Update, 12/99: I have recently learned to dodge this "bulk" issue with larger telescopes by placing them on rolling platforms with lockable castors. Go to your local lumber yard/hardware store and get 3/4"-1" plywood and four castors.
Named stars: Alpha Gem (Castor), Beta Gem (Pollux), Gamma Gem (Alhena), Delta Gem (Wasat), Zeta Gem (Mekbuda), Eta Gem (Tejat)
Info: Gemini is one of the 13 zodiacal constellations (that is, the Sun passes through it in the course of the year).
Castor Alpha Geminorum
Cebalrai Beta Ophiuchi
Celaeno 16 Tauri
Chara Alpha Canum Venaticorum
Cheleb Beta Ophiuchi
Chertan Theta Leonis
Chort Theta Leonis
Chow Beta Serpentis
Cor Caroli Alpha Canum Venaticorum
Cursa Beta Eridani ...
Incidentally, the constellation Gemini's brightest stars, Pollux and Castor, shine to the Moon's immediate right tonight, nearly in line with the Moon; and the intensely bright point of light to the Moon's upper left is the planet Jupiter.
Drawing a line from Rigel through Betelgeuse points to Castor and Pollux the Twins of the Gemini constellation
Hunting With Orion
Right Ascension: 5 hours
Declination: 5 degrees ...
The brightest stars in Gemini are Castor (a sextuple star - three double stars) and Pollux (a 1st magnitude yellow star). The star cluster M30 is in Gemini. The open cluster M35 also is located in Gemini.
Firstly, with Gemini, it may form the origin of the myth of Castor and Polydeuces, concerning cattle raiding. Secondly, again with Gemini, but also with other features of the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e.
Its two-man crew gave it its name, Gemini, for the third constellation of the Zodiac and its twin stars, Castor and Pollux. Gemini involved 12 flights, including two unmanned flight tests of the equipment.
This particular star is originally thought to be a member of a now dispersed star cluster including Fomalhaut, Vega and Castor. Fomalhaut's future may entail evolving into a white dwarf in a billion years. (Don't wait up!) ...
To the left are bright Pollux and Castor and above them Procyon in Canis Minor. From a dark sky the fuzzy patch of M 44 will be apparent, and is really the main distinguishing feature of this otherwise inconspicuous constellation.
Nearly directly overhead are two bright stars, near one another. The brighter of these will appear redish. These are the stars Pollux (brighter) and Castor (the dimmer of the two). These are both the heads of the two twins of Gemini.
Examples of visual binaries in the southern skies resolvable through small telescopes include α Crucis, β Crucis and γ Cen and Castor in Gemini.
The bright orange "star" on the right near the bottom is Mars. Castor and Pollux are the two stars left of center bottom, beginning to rise up in the northeast. Stars of Auriga, including bright Capella, in the top right of image.
 See also: Star, Constellation, Sky, Pollux, Gemini
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