Observing planets in June. June starfall and other astronomical events of the first month of summer
The sky in the coming year will, as before, delight and delight us with the most interesting astronomical phenomena: there will be celestial performances, and the occultation of some luminaries by others, and unusual comets will appear, and mysterious meteorites will fly by, and other events will happen, including those which are impossible to predict.
But what you won’t be able to observe this year, unfortunately, are eclipses: the first pair of them will take place on February 11 (penumbral lunar, in the Southern Hemisphere) and February 26 (solar, in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans), the second pair - as usual, in 177-178 days - August 7, lunar and August 21, solar will also be visible outside Russia.
Where and how can you observe planets?
MERCURY is best observed in the predawn sky in May - June (in Aries - Taurus) and in September (in Leo), when its brightness will reach a record minus first magnitude. The rest of the year it will appear low above the horizon, and observations will be quite problematic.
Mercury is full of mysteries, especially in motion. Suffice it to say that, having made two revolutions around the Sun (i.e. in two of its years - 176 of our days), it will turn around its axis exactly three times. Moreover, his day lasts exactly the same amount of time. What would it be like for us if night on Earth lasted 365 days? And the same day? Moreover, if at the same time the heat during the day was +450 degrees, and at night it was super cold - minus 180 degrees! These are exactly the “hellish” conditions on Mercury. Here it must be said that it was not in vain that the Almighty awarded him such long days: 88 of our days are day, 88 days are night. With our day (24 hours), it would not last even a year next to the Sun - it would fall apart from cyclic thermal deformations.
And further. It is almost magically connected with our Earth and with its neighbor Venus: the synodic period of Mercury (the time during which it overtakes the Earth by one revolution - 176 days) is exactly equal to a day on Venus (!) and exactly equal to two revolutions around its axis , and this one revolution is 10 times less than the synodic period of Venus (586.7: 58.67 = 10)! That's where the miracles are! Real! Not horoscopes.
VENUS - the planet is perfectly visible all year, except for the second half of March, when it will pass between the Sun and the Earth (on March 25 it is in inferior conjunction) and then will show off in the morning sky as the brightest luminary (up to minus 4.6 magnitude), visiting everything constellations from Pisces to Sagittarius in December.
Venus recently surprised us by showing for the first time a strange sideways smile, a bright arc in its atmosphere almost from pole to pole. What does this focus mean? Astrophysicists are still thinking about this.
The planet's atmosphere is unique in the solar system. Firstly, it consists of 96% carbon dioxide with drops of hydrochloric, sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids, i.e. terribly aggressive; secondly, it rotates furiously around the planet - 60 times faster than the surface! There are 10 thousand lightning strikes every second, which is 100 times more than on Earth. Due to the greenhouse effect, the rocky surface heats up to 500 degrees! And this is at a pressure of 95 atmospheres. Pure hell!
MARS is being capricious this year. In February - May, it appears in the evenings in Pisces, Aries and Taurus, and then in the predawn sky in Leo, Virgo and Libra, but its disk will be very tiny, no more than 6 arc seconds - not every amateur will see something.
But on September 12, you will be able to contemplate a real celestial spectacle: on the morning of this day, Mars and Mercury will converge in the sky! They will be separated by only 6 arc minutes - at one moment they will simply seem to touch each other. A rare sight!
JUPITER sparkles in Virgo, having a magnitude of about minus 2.2 magnitude. It is best to watch it all night in the first half of the year. On September 7, it will be in conjunction with the Sun and then move into morning visibility.
SATURN will be clearly visible in Ophiuchus (brightness 0.5 magnitude) all year except the last week of December. Its rings are open and visible in full glory. By the way, these days the American Cassini spacecraft periodically dives into them, studying the composition and structure of the rings.
By the way, Saturn and Jupiter are also connected by their resonance: when the first makes two revolutions around the Sun, the second makes exactly five!
URANUS (in Pisces) and NEPTUNE (in Aquarius) are accessible for observation only by owners of reputable telescopes, since their magnitudes are about 5.5 and 7.8 magnitudes, respectively.
Planetary conjunctions
In addition to the mentioned performance of Mars and Mercury, Jupiter and Mercury will converge very closely (about one degree) in the sky on October 18, with Venus on November 13: the two brightest planets are a fantastic sight!
Coatings
This year the Moon will cover Mercury twice - on July 25 and September 19, and on September 18 both Venus and Mars in one morning (in Leo).
Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus will have to wait 3-5 years for occultations.
Comets
Of the 60 shaggy stars approaching the Sun this year, comets will be the best visible, even with binoculars:
Encke in the spring will pass over the stars Gamma, Iota, Omega of the constellation Pisces and then sharply turn south. The comet is not just extraordinary, but even strange: not only is it the fastest - it takes only 40 months to fly around the Sun (a record!), but it also moves in an incomprehensible way - in shocks, ignoring all the laws of celestial mechanics. Perhaps she's tripping over her own tail?
Johnson in March - June will fly through the constellations Hercules, Bootes and Virgo.
Panstars in May will have a maximum magnitude of 10 magnitude.
Giacobini-Kresaka on April 13 will pass 22 million km from Earth. Her path runs through the Big Dipper and the Dragon.
Of the meteor showers, the most impressive will be the Perseids on August 13 (Perseus) and the Leonids (Leo) on November 17.
Clear skies and successful observations everyone!
Alexander LESOVOY, methodologist, head of the astronomical circle of the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity
In June 2017 and almost the entire summer, Saturn can be observed with the naked eye in the southern side of the sky, in the constellation Ophiuchus.
On June 15, 2017 at 13:00 Moscow time, Saturn will be at the point of opposition to the Sun , the planet's brightness will reach zero magnitude, and the planet's apparent diameter will be almost 19 arcseconds!
This means that there is a unique chance to examine the planet in all details!
The opposition of the planets is called such an arrangement of celestial bodies when their centers are exactly on the same straight line, while the Earth is located between the Sun and the planet. At opposition, the planet crosses the celestial meridian at midnight, is located closest to the Earth and has maximum brightness, the duration of the planet's night visibility is maximum, and the angular dimensions of the planet in the sky are the largest in the year. Opposition moments are the best for observing the outer planets (from Mars to Neptune) and asteroids, since at this time the planet is at its minimum distance from the Earth and its disk is fully illuminated by the Sun.
Oppositions of Saturn occur annually and repeat once every 378 days. On the day of opposition, June 15, 2017, Saturn will be at a distance of 9.05 AU. (1353860730 km) from Earth. Through a telescope you can see the rings of the giant planet, and from the retinue of its numerous satellites, with the help of amateur means it is easy to see only the largest - Titan.
The rings of Saturn have now unfolded so that when observed from Earth they are close to their maximum opening and are visible in almost any amateur telescope. In 2016, Saturn’s rings opened to their maximum angle, when the planet’s north pole was best visible; now the reverse process has begun, the angle of ring opening will decrease until 2024. The appearance of the rings varies from year to year, as they are inclined to the ecliptic plane by 26°. The rings cease to be visible when the observer is exactly in the plane of the rings.
This happens twice during a full revolution of Saturn around the Sun (29.5 years) - after 13.75 and 15.75 years. The last “disappearance” of rings was observed in 2009, the next one in 2024. In the period from 1995 to 2008, we could observe the south pole of the planet; now and until 2023, the north pole of Saturn and the side of its rings facing it will be clearly visible.
The best time to observe the ringed giant is the first half of summer in 2017. During the period of opposition, in mid-June 2017, Saturn can be observed low above the southern horizon in the constellation Ophiuchus. These days it appears above the horizon after 21:00 and reaches its maximum height after midnight. At midnight in mid-latitudes, Saturn rises no higher than 10-12° above the horizon.
After standing on August 25, 2017, Saturn will gradually move closer to the Sun on the celestial sphere, increasingly reducing the hours for observations. Saturn will move into the evening sky in the fall, ending its visibility to the naked eye in late November. On December 22, 2017, Saturn will be at the point of conjunction with the Sun.
Points of standing, opposition and conjunction of Saturn with the Sun in 2017:
Saturn is a gas giant (i.e., without a solid surface), consisting of hydrogen, with admixtures of helium and traces of water, methane, ammonia and heavy elements. Saturn is the furthest planet that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. It is several times larger than the Earth and has 95 Earth masses. The yellow and gold streaks that are visible in Saturn's atmosphere through a telescope are the result of super-fast winds in the upper atmosphere that reach 2,000 km/h. Saturn makes a full revolution around the Sun in 29.5 Earth years, and a day on this planet lasts 10 hours 34 minutes - it is during this time that Saturn makes a full revolution around its axis relative to the stars.
25.04.2017 18:40 | Alexander Kozlovsky
This week Mercury passes 5 degrees south of the Pleiades, and Ceres will enter into conjunction with the Sun. On June 7, the Moon will cover the star Gamma Libra (3.9m) with Ф = 0.96+) at the maximum southern libration of the night star. On June 7 and 11, the trio of Jupiter's satellites will make their closest approach to the planet. On June 8, the Moon (Ф = 0.99+) will reach the apogee of its orbit at a distance of 406,402 km from the center of the Earth, and then in the full moon phase it will pass near Antares and Saturn, on June 9 - the long-period variable stars R Andromeda and T Ursa Major will reach their maximum brightness (about 6m). On June 10, Jupiter will pass the stationary point with the transition to direct motion. On June 11, the long-period variable star T Cephei will reach its maximum brightness (5m), and the Moon (Ф= 0.98-) will reach its maximum declination to the south. In addition, several comets are available to amateur telescopes throughout the week (it should be taken into account that the Moon is near the full moon), and it is also possible to observe noctilucent clouds that appear against the background of the morning and evening twilight segment. Comet C/2015 ER61 (PanSTARRS) will approach Uranus, the star Eta Pisces and the galaxy M74 (to the right of Venus) at the end of the week.
Of the planets of the solar system: Mercury, Venus and Uranus can be found in the morning twilight in the southern latitudes of the country (Venus and in the middle latitudes). Mars is observed in the evenings. Jupiter is visible in the evening and at night, while Saturn and Neptune can be found in the night and morning skies. Detailed planetary ephemerides are given in the printed version.
Information about the phenomena of the past and future - in.
Review articles about planets and small bodies of the Solar System -.
Date a(2000.0) d(2000.0) r delta m elon. V PA con. Ceres (1) 6 Jun 2017 4h56m20.63s +21.94264 deg 2.710 3.724 8.4 0.7 63.50 79.7 Tau 11 Jun 2017 5h05m18.31s +22.30405 deg 2.706 3.719 8.5 2.7 63.58 80.6 Tau Vesta (4) 6 Jun 2017 9h02m38.61s +21.66656 deg 2.387 - 3.59465 deg 2.553 1.592 9.3 156.2 34.16 269.1 Oph 11 Jun 2017 17h50m19.81s - 3.65136 deg 2.543 1.569 9.2 159.0 36.62 265.4 Oph Hygeia (10) 6 Jun 2017 18h53m28.29s -23.90389 deg 2.846 1.904 9.7 153.0 21.92 271.6 Sgr 11 Jun 2017 18h50m08.21s -23.87944 deg 2.849 1.880 9.6 158.6 25.06 271.5 Sgr Haromony (40) 6 Jun 2017 18h26m04.58s -22.36117 deg 2.275 1.298 10.0 159.2 31.32 258.0 Sgr 11 Jun 2017 18h21m30.94s -22.57836 deg 2.273 1.277 9.8 165.1 3 5.06 259.0 Sgr a right ascension for epoch 2000.0, d - declination for epoch 2000.0, r - distance from the Sun ( AU), delta - distance from the Earth (AU), m - magnitude, elon. - elongation, V - angular velocity (seconds per hour), RA - position angle of the direction of movement of the celestial body, сon. - constellation
Selected astronomical phenomena of the week.
The time for the phenomena is given in Moscow =UT+3 hours (universal time UT is indicated separately). On Sergei Guryanov’s website you can use the web version of the AK for 2017 with a general overview of the starry sky and the phenomena of the month of June. Information from other phenomena is available in,
June will delight us with the longest daylight of the year on the summer solstice on June 21, as well as the appearance of noctilucent clouds in the twilight sky and the onset of long-awaited white nights and the polar day in the subpolar latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere!
On June 15, 2017, Saturn will enter into opposition with the Sun, making the best time to observe the ringed giant planet. June 30 is International Asteroid Day, on this day 109 years ago the Tunguska meteorite fell to Earth.
Selected events of June 2017 in astronomy and cosmonautics
June 1 – Moon in first quarter phase 15:43
On June 2, 51 years ago, in 1966, four months later than the Soviet automatic station Luna-9, the American station Surveyor 1 soft-landed on the surface of the Moon and transmitted detailed television images of the lunar surface to Earth.
June 3 – Venus at greatest western (morning) elongation: 45.9° - morning
June 4 – 15 years ago the dwarf planet 50,000 Quaoar was discovered
June 4 – Comet C/2015 V2 (Johnson) passes at a distance of 0.82 AU. from the earth. At this moment, its brilliance can be +6-7 stars. led
June 6 - 256 years ago the atmosphere of Venus was discovered. On June 6, 1761, the brilliant Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov observed the passage of Venus in front of the solar disk and discovered its atmosphere
June 7 – the beginning of the morning visibility of Uranus
June 7 – 61 years ago our dogs Kozyavka and Albina flew into space
June 8 – World Oceans Day
June 8 is the 392nd anniversary of the birth of Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. Cassini was the first to determine the rotation period of the planet Jupiter and gave an explanation for the system of stripes on it.
June 9 –Full Moon 16:11
June 9 – 205 years since the birth of I.G. Halle (Johann Gottfied Galle)
June 11 – 32 years ago, the Automatic Interplanetary Station “Vega-1” reached the outskirts of Venus.
June 12 - 50 years ago, the Venera-4 station was launched, which landed on the planet Venus on October 18. As a result of research carried out by the station, it was established that there was no magnetic field and radiation belts on the planet, and the composition of the atmosphere was also determined.
June 13 – 186 years since the birth of the English physicist, creator of classical electrodynamics, James Maxwell
June 13 – 61 years ago the dogs Kozyavka and Albina flew into space for the second time
June 14 - 281 years since the birth of the French physicist and military engineer, whose name is given to the unit of electric charge and the law of interaction of electric charges, Charles Augustin de Coulomb
June 14 is the 128th anniversary of the birth of the famous Swedish astronomer K. E. Lundmark. He was the first in the world to determine the distance to the Andromeda Nebula in 1919 and established in 1928 the existence of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes several star systems, including the Andromeda Nebula (M31) and our Galaxy. He was one of the first to make observations that confirmed the rotation of the Galaxy, and suggested that the Sun and nearby stars revolve around its center.
June 16 - 54 years ago, Valentina Tereshkova flew into space on the Vostok-6 spacecraft. She became the sixth Soviet cosmonaut
June 16 – 126 years since the birth of the Soviet astronomer Vladimir Alexandrovich Albitsky
June 19 - 2257 years ago, the Greek scientist Eratosthenes of Cyrene for the first time in the world calculated the radius of the Earth
June 22 – 41 years ago the Salyut-5 space station was launched in the USSR
June 23 – Moon at perigee distance to Earth 357937 km 13:50
June 23 – 162 years since the birth of the Russian and Soviet astronomer Lidia Petrovna Tseraskaya (discovered 219 variable stars)
June 24 – New Moon 05:33
June 26 - 11 years ago Saturn's moons Surtur, Jarnsaxa, Greip and Loge were discovered
June 27 – the June Bootids meteor shower from the constellation Bootes reaches its maximum activity (from 1 to 100 or more meteors per hour)
June 28 – The Moon passes 0.7° south of Regulus 03:00
June 28 - 11 years ago Pluto's moon Kerberos was discovered
June 29 - 117 years ago, the French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born
June 30 – 45 years ago, astronomers first introduced “coordinate/leap seconds” into practice.
June 30 is International Asteroid Day. 109 years ago, the Tunguska meteorite fell to Earth.
Starry sky of June
In June, a period of bright nights begins in mid-latitudes: the Sun does not sink deep enough below the horizon, and there is scattered sunlight in the atmosphere, which worsens the conditions for observing faint, foggy space objects. We find Ursa Major to the left of the North Star, high in the northwestern segment of the sky. The Milky Way arcs from north to south over the eastern horizon. The Dragon's Head is visible in the zenith area. From the easily recognizable sky patterns in May, you will find that the trapezoid of Leo is already leaning towards the west at night, and the “summer triangle” constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Eagle rise high above the southeastern horizon after midnight.
The constellation Cygnus is characterized by a cross, the top of which is marked by white Deneb - on ancient star maps we see the Cygnus flying down to the Earth. The Greeks believed that in this image, omnipotent Zeus, hiding from Hera’s jealousy, flies on a date with Leda, the future mother of Castor and Pollux.
Charioteer is visible above the northern side of the horizon, and to his right is Perseus. In the east Pegasus rose, to the left of which in the northeast side are Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus. In the northwest is the Big Dipper, below it are the Canes Hounds.
In the southern side of the sky, Sagittarius, Ophiuchus rise above the horizon, to the left of it is Eagle, Dolphin, the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Hercules are located high. Corona Borealis and Bootes are visible in the southwestern sky.
June starfall in the constellation Bootes.
On June 27, the June Bootids meteor shower from the constellation Boötes reaches its maximum activity; according to IMO (International Meteor Organization) forecasts, from 1 to 100 meteors per hour are expected. The June Bootids are a meteor shower observed every year between June 22 and July 2, with maximum activity on June 27. During this period, the Earth passes through the orbit of the short-period comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke*. Small particles of cometary matter, rushing to the surface of the Earth, burn up in the atmosphere, giving observers the phenomenon of meteors, or meteor shower.
*Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke was discovered by Jean-Louis Pons (Marseille) on June 12, 1819, and then rediscovered on March 9, 1858 by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in Bonn. The comet is the ancestor of the June Bootid meteor shower, which is also sometimes called the Pons-Winnekids. The size of the nucleus of Comet Pons-Winnecke is about 2.6 km. The orbital period of Comet Pons-Winnecke is 6.37 years.
The constellation Boötes from the Atlas “Urania’s Mirror” (London, 1825)
The name of the Bootids stream comes from the Latin name of the constellation Bootes (Botes), in which its radiant is located. It was first observed in May - June 1916. It was active in 1916, 1921 and 1927. After 1927, the shower became poor in meteors. Most often, the activity of the June Bootids is very low - 1-2 meteors per hour. But sometimes there are bursts of activity. Such a surge essentially led to the discovery of this meteor shower in 1916. The last major surge in JuneBootid activity occurred in 1998. Then in an hour about 100 meteors from the shower could be seen.
Observing noctilucent clouds
The first summer month is unfavorable for observations in the middle, and especially in the northern latitudes of the country. During white nights or polar days, only the brightest sky objects can be observed. These are the Sun and Moon, and sometimes Venus. But for those areas where navigational twilight sets in and astronomical twilight continues, an excellent opportunity opens up for detecting and observing noctilucent clouds. They can appear throughout the summer, and the greatest chance of seeing them occurs at the end of June.
Sun
The Sun moves through the constellation Taurus until June 21, and then moves into the constellation Gemini and remains there until the end of the month. The declination of the daylight gradually increases, as does the length of the day, which increases from 17 hours 11 minutes at the beginning of the month to 17 hours 32 minutes on the day of the solstice. On this day, the sun seems to freeze (stop) at the highest point of maximum declination (23.5 degrees), which is why this day is called the solstice, and then begins to descend to the south, daylight hours begin to decrease.
The given data on day length are valid for the latitude of Moscow, where the midday altitude of the Sun during the month is about 57 degrees.
At latitude St. Petersburg white nights are coming, and north of latitude 66 the polar day begins. Sufficiently favorable conditions for observing the starry sky remain only in the southern regions of the country. For middle latitudes, the deep starry sky will open only by the end of July.
IN Murmansk, at latitude 68°58, the polar day lasts 2 months - from May 22 to July 22. This is the period when the Sun does not fall below the horizon at all.
Murmansk, polar day.
June is the most favorable period of the year for observing the Sun. Observations of spots and other formations on the surface of the daylight can be carried out through a telescope or binoculars and even with the naked eye (if the spots are large enough). But we must remember that a visual study of the Sun through a telescope or other optical instruments must be carried out (!!!) using an aperture solar filter.
Space weather
Magnetic storm forecast for June 2017
Moon
Moon visibility in June 2017:
1 - 2 – in the evening
3 - 14 – at night
15 - 18 – after midnight
19 - 21 – in the morning
26 - 30 – in the evening
Visibility of planets in June 2017:
At night:
–Jupiter in the constellation Virgo;
– Saturn (!) in the constellation Ophiuchus;
– Neptune in the constellation Aquarius;
In the morning:
– Venus until June 9 in the constellation Pisces, from 10-28 in the constellation Aries, from 29 to 30 in the constellation Taurus;
– Mercury until June 15 in the constellation Taurus;
– Uranus (!!!) in the constellation Pisces
On June 15, 2017 at 13:00 Moscow time, the ringed giant Saturn will enter into opposition with the Sun. The distance from Earth to Saturn will be 9.01 AU. (1.35 billion km). This means that the angular dimensions of the planet in the sky will be the largest in the year, and it will be possible to see Saturn in more detail than in other months of the year. The apparent diameter of the planet's disk will be 18 arcseconds, but the planet is surrounded by a ring, which is observed already at a magnification of 20 times.
The oppositions of this planet are repeated once every 378 days. By the way, by 2016, Saturn’s rings opened to their maximum angle, when the planet’s north pole is best visible; now the reverse process has begun - the opening angle of the rings will decrease until 2024.
Saturn moves backward through the constellation Ophiuchus, reaching opposition on June 15th. From May to August is the most favorable period for observing Saturn in 2017. During these months, Saturn is visible all night in the constellation Ophiuchus. Its pale yellowish brightness reaches a maximum magnitude of +0.2m by the date of opposition. But in general, the planet’s visibility conditions this year remain unfavorable, since at its climax Saturn rises in mid-latitudes no higher than 10-12° above the horizon. The ringed planet can be observed all night above the southern horizon with a visibility duration of about five hours. With a small telescope you can observe the ring and the Titan satellite, as well as some of the other brightest satellites
Observations of the Moon and planets in June 2017
June 1 – Moon in first quarter phase 15:43
June 3 – Venus at greatest western (morning) elongation: 45.9° - morning
June 4 – The Moon passes 2° north of Jupiter 05:00
June 5 – The Moon passes 6° north of Spica 02:00
June 7 – the beginning of the morning visibility of Uranus
June 7 – Mercury 5° south of the Pleiades – 09:00
June 8 – The Moon passes 9° north of Antares 22:00
June 9 – Moon at apogee – distance to Earth 406401 km 01:22
June 9 –Full Moon 16:11
June 10 – The Moon passes 3° north of Saturn 04:00
June 10 – Jupiter moves from retrograde motion to direct motion 07:00
June 15 – Saturn in opposition to the Sun, the planet’s brightness will reach 0.1 stars 13:00
June 17 – Moon in last quarter phase 14:35
June 17 – Neptune moves from direct to retrograde 03:00
June 19 – Mercury at perihelion
June 19 – Moon passes 4° south of Uranus 21:00
June 21 – Summer Solstice 07:25
June 21 – Mercury in superior conjunction with the Sun 17:00
June 21 – Moon passes 2° south of Venus 01:00
June 22 – The Moon passes 0.4° south of Aldebaran 18:00
June 24 – New Moon 05:33
June 26 – The Moon passes 3.5° south of the Manger star cluster 14:00
June 28 – The Moon passes 0.7° south of Regulus 03:00
WHAT CAN YOU SEE IN A TELESCOPE IN JUNE?
Owners of the telescope will be able to observe in the sky:
double stars: Swan, and Lyra, Scorpio, Ursa Major, Hounds;
variable stars: Cepheus, Lyrae, Aquila;
open star clusters: M24 in the constellation Sagittarius, M11 in the constellation Scutum, M39 in the constellation Cygnus, and Perseus;
globular star clusters: M15 in the constellation Pegasus, M13 in the constellation Hercules, M3 in the constellation Canes Venatici, M5 in the constellation Serpens;
nebulae: M27 in the constellation Chanterelle, M57 in the constellation Lyra; M8 and M17 in the constellation Sagittarius, M16 in the constellation Serpens;
galaxies: M81 and M82 in the constellation Ursa Major, M51 and M94 in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Pollux and Castor in the constellation Gemini
Astronet.ru - Translation: D.Yu. Tsvetkov
When looking at astronomical objects, the famous constellation Gemini is dominated by two bright stars shown in this photo: Pollux (left) and Castor (right). These two stars stand out because they are close in both brightness and position in the sky, but their colors are different.
Pollux, 33 light-years away, is an evolved red giant, twice as massive as our Sun. Castor is 51 light years away. It is a blue main sequence star, approximately 2.7 times more massive than the Sun. Castor has two satellite stars, and Pollux is orbited by one massive planet.
According to ancient Babylonian, Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux are twin brothers.
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When preparing the page, material was used from the School Astronomical Calendar for the 2016-2017 academic year, the Great Encyclopedia of Astronomy by V.G. Surdina and site materials:
http://www.astronet.ru;
http://edu.zelenogorsk.ru