1.5 KiB
| name | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini | skybber | 2021-06-26 08:42:45.281861 | skybber | 2022-02-11 17:04:17.253700 |
The constellation of the northern sky, which the Sun passes through after the summer solstice from 21 June to 19 July, therefore rises high above the horizon in winter. The constellation's bright stars form an irregular rectangle between Cancer and Taurus. The pair of brightest stars that reach first sidereal magnitude are called Kastor and Pollux. They are quite different: the brighter and closer Pollux is a lonely orange giant, without guides or points of interest. Kastor is a little fainter, but is an impressive star system, and so is in turn one of the most interesting stars in the sky. The constellation is crossed by the winter Milky Way on its western edge, so it offers a wide variety of celestial objects: from emission and planetary nebulae and open clusters to binaries and variable stars. The most impressive of these are the large open cluster M35, which is the most beautiful of its kind in our winter sky after the Hyades and Pleiades, and the bright planetary nebula Eskimo. In the latter part of the constellation, outside the Milky Way, lie quite a number of faint galaxies. Great discoveries have been made in Gemini in the past. Near the star η Geminorum, William Herschel discovered Uranus, the first planet of the modern era, in 1781. Near the star δ Geminorum, Clyde Tombaugh found Pluto again in 1930.
