Gemini ( constellation ) - wikipedia Gemini ( constellation ) This article is about the astronomical constellation. For the astrological sign, see Gemini ( astrology ). Gemini Constellation List of stars in Gemini Abbreviation Gem Genitive Geminorum Pronunciation / ˈdʒɛmɪnaɪ / genitive / ˌdʒɛmɪˈnɒrəm / Symbolism the Twins, Castor and Pollux Right ascension 7 Declination + 20 ° Quadrant NQ2 Area 514 sq. deg. ( 30th ) Main stars 8, 17 Bayer / Flamsteed stars 80 Stars with planets 8 Stars brighter than 3.00 Stars within 10.00 pc ( 32.62 ly ) Brightest star Pollux ( β Gem ) ( 1.15 ) Messier objects Meteor showers Geminids Rho Geminids Bordering constellations Lynx Auriga Taurus Orion Monoceros Canis Minor Cancer Visible at latitudes between + 90 ° and − 60 °. Best visible at 21 : 00 ( 9 p.m. ) during the month of February. Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for `` twins, '' and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology. Its symbol is ( Unicode ♊ ). Contents 1 Location 2 Features 2.1 Stars 2.2 Deep - sky objects 2.3 Meteor showers 3 Mythology 4 Visualizations 5 In the history of astronomy 6 Equivalents 7 Astrology 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources 11 External links Location The constellation Gemini as it can be seen with the unaided eye, with added connecting lines. An animation of the constellation Gemini ( center ), `` the twins '', shows two parallel stick figures. Gemini is associated with the myth of Castor and Polydeuces ( also known as Pollux ), collectively known as the Dioscuri. Gemini lies between Taurus to the west and Cancer to the east, with Auriga and Lynx to the north and Monoceros and Canis Minor to the south. The Sun resides in the astrological sign of Gemini from June 20 to July 20 each year ( though the zodiac dates that it 's May 21 to June 21 ). By mid-August, Gemini will appear along the eastern horizon in the morning sky prior to sunrise. The best time to observe Gemini at night is overhead during the months of January and February. By April and May, the constellation will be visible soon after sunset in the west. The easiest way to locate the constellation is to find its two brightest stars Castor and Pollux eastward from the familiar `` V '' shaped asterism of Taurus and the three stars of Orion 's belt. Another way is to mentally draw a line from the Pleiades star cluster located in Taurus and the brightest star in Leo, Regulus. In doing so, you are drawing an imaginary line that is relatively close to the ecliptic, a line which intersects Gemini roughly at the midpoint of the constellation, just below Castor and Pollux. Features Stars The constellation contains 85 stars visible to observation on Earth without a telescope. The brightest star in Gemini is Pollux, and the second - brightest is Castor. Castor 's Bayer designation as `` Alpha '' arose because Johann Bayer did not carefully distinguish which of the two was the brighter when he assigned his eponymous designations in 1603. α Gem ( Castor ) is a sextuple star system 52 light - years from Earth, which appears as a magnitude - 1.6 blue - white star to the unaided eye. Two spectroscopic binaries are visible at magnitudes 1.9 and 3.0 with a period of 470 years. A wide - set red dwarf star is also a part of the system ; this star is an Algol - type eclipsing binary star with a period of 19.5 hours ; its minimum magnitude is 9.8 and its maximum magnitude is 9.3. β Gem ( Pollux ) is an orange - hued giant star of magnitude 1.14, 34 light - years from Earth. Pollux has an extrasolar planet revolving around it, as do two other stars in Gemini, HD 50554, and HD 59686. γ Gem ( Alhena ) is a blue - white hued star of magnitude 1.9, 105 light - years from earth. δ Gem ( Wasat ) is a long - period binary star 59 light - years from Earth. The primary is a white star of magnitude 3.5, and the secondary is an orange dwarf star of magnitude 8.2. The period is over 1000 years ; it is divisible in medium amateur telescopes. ε Gem ( Mebsuta ), a double star, includes a primary yellow supergiant of magnitude 3.1, nine hundred light - years from Earth. The optical companion, of magnitude 9.6, is visible in binoculars and small telescopes. ζ Gem ( Mekbuda ) is a double star, whose primary is a Cepheid variable star with a period of 10.2 days ; its minimum magnitude is 4.2 and its maximum magnitude is 3.6. It is a yellow supergiant, 1,200 light - years from Earth, with a radius that is 60 times solar, making it approximately 220,000 times the size of the Sun. The companion, a magnitude - 7.6 star, is visible in binoculars and small amateur telescopes. η Gem ( Propus ) is a binary star with a variable component. 380 light - years away, it has a period of 500 years and is only divisible in large amateur telescopes. The primary is a semi-regular red giant with a period of 233 days ; its minimum magnitude is 3.9 and its maximum magnitude is 3.1. The secondary is of magnitude 6. κ Gem is a binary star 143 light - years from Earth. The primary is a yellow giant of magnitude 3.6 ; the secondary is of magnitude 8. The two are only divisible in larger amateur instruments because of the discrepancy in brightness. ν Gem is a double star divisible in binoculars and small amateur telescopes. The primary is a blue giant of magnitude 4.1, 550 light - years from Earth, and the secondary is of magnitude 8. 38 Gem, a binary star, is also divisible in small amateur telescopes, 84 light - years from Earth. The primary is a white star of magnitude 4.8 and the secondary is a yellow star of magnitude 7.8. U Gem is a dwarf nova type cataclysmic variable discovered by J.R. Hind in 1855. Mu Gem is the Bayer designation for a star in the northern constellation of Gemini. It has the traditional name Tejat Posterior, which means back foot, because it is the foot of Castor, one of the Gemini twins. Deep - sky objects The Medusa Nebula Since the sky area of Gemini is directed away from the Milky Way, there are comparatively few deep - sky objects of note. M35 ( NGC 2168 ) is a large, elongated open cluster of magnitude 5, discovered in the year 1745 by Swiss astronomer Philippe Loys de Chéseaux. It has an area of approximately 0.2 square degrees, the same size as the full moon. Its high magnitude means that M35 is visible to the unaided eye under dark skies ; under brighter skies it is discernible in binoculars. The 200 stars of M35 are arranged in chains that curve throughout the cluster ; it is 2800 light - years from Earth. Another open cluster in Gemini is NGC 2158. Visible in large amateur telescopes and very rich, it is more than 12,000 light - years from Earth. The Eskimo Nebula or Clown Face Nebula ( NGC 2392 ) is a planetary nebula with an overall magnitude of 9.2, located 4,000 light - years from Earth. In a small amateur telescope, its 10th magnitude central star is visible, along with its blue - green elliptical disk. It is named for its resemblance to the head of a person wearing a parka. The Medusa Nebula is another planetary nebula, some 1,500 light - years distant. Geminga is a neutron star approximately 550 light - years from Earth. Other objects include NGC 2129, NGC 2158, NGC 2266, NGC 2331, NGC 2355, and NGC 2395. Meteor showers The Geminids are a bright meteor shower that peaks on December 13 -- 14. It has a maximum rate of approximately 100 meteors per hour, making it one of the richest meteor showers. The Epsilon Geminids peak between October 18 and October 29 and have only been recently confirmed. They overlap with the Orionids, which make the Epsilon Geminids difficult to detect visually. Epsilon Geminid meteors have a higher velocity than Orionids. Mythology Gemini as depicted in Urania 's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c. 1825. Diagram of H.A. Rey 's alternative way to connect the stars of the constellation Gemini. Twins are shown holding hands. Sculpture showing Castor and Pollux the legend behind the third astrological sign in the Zodiac and the constellation of Gemini In Babylonian astronomy, the stars Castor and Pollux were known as the Great Twins ( MUL. MASH. TAB. BA. GAL. GAL ). The Twins were regarded as minor gods and were called Meshlamtaea and Lugalirra, meaning respectively ' The One who has arisen from the Underworld ' and the ' Mighty King '. Both names can be understood as titles of Nergal, the major Babylonian god of plague and pestilence, who was king of the Underworld. In Greek mythology, Gemini was associated with the myth of Castor and Pollux, the children of Leda and Argonauts both. Pollux was the son of Zeus, who seduced Leda, while Castor was the son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta and Leda 's husband. Castor and Pollux were also mythologically associated with St. Elmo 's fire in their role as the protectors of sailors. When Castor died, because he was mortal, Pollux begged his father Zeus to give Castor immortality, and he did, by uniting them together in the heavens. Visualizations Gemini is dominated by Castor and Pollux, two bright stars that appear relatively very closely together forming an o shape, encouraging the mythological link between the constellation and twinship. The twin above and to the right ( as seen from the Northern Hemisphere ) is Castor, whose brightest star is α Gem ; it is a second - magnitude star and represents Castor 's head. The twin below and to the left is Pollux, whose brightest star is β Gem ( more commonly called Pollux ) ; it is of the first magnitude and represents Pollux 's head. Furthermore, the other stars can be visualized as two parallel lines descending from the two main stars, making it look like two figures. H.A. Rey has suggested an alternative to the traditional visualization that connected the stars of Gemini to show twins holding hands. Pollux 's torso is represented by the star υ Gem, Pollux 's right hand by ι Gem, Pollux 's left hand by κ Gem ; all three of these stars are of the fourth magnitude. Pollux 's pelvis is represented by the star δ Gem, Pollux 's right knee by ζ Gem, Pollux 's right foot by γ Gem, Pollux 's left knee by λ Gem, and Pollux 's left foot by ξ Gem. γ Gem is of the second magnitude, while δ and ξ Gem are of the third magnitude. Castor 's torso is represented by the star τ Gem, Castor 's left hand by ι Gem ( which he shares with Pollux ), Castor 's right hand by θ Gem ; all three of these stars are of the fourth magnitude. Castor 's pelvis is represented by the star ε Gem, Castor 's left foot by ν Gem, and Castor 's right foot by μ Gem and η Gem ; ε, μ, and η Gem are of the third magnitude. The brightest star in this constellation is Pollux. In the history of astronomy In Meteorologica ( 1 343b30 ) Aristotle mentions that he observed Jupiter in conjunction with and then occulting a star in Gemini. This is the earliest - known observation of this nature. A study published in 1990 suggests the star involved was 1 Geminorum and the event took place on 5 December 337 BC. When William Herschel discovered Uranus on 13 March 1781 it was located near η Gem. In 1930 Clyde Tombaugh exposed a series of photographic plates centred on δ Gem and discovered Pluto. Equivalents In Chinese astronomy, the stars that correspond to Gemini are located in two areas : the White Tiger of the West ( 西方 白虎, Xī Fāng Bái Hǔ ) and the Vermillion Bird of the South ( 南方 朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què ). Astrology Main article : Gemini ( astrology ) As of 2002, the Sun appears in the constellation Gemini from June 20 to July 20. In tropical astrology, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Gemini from May 21 to June 22, and in sidereal astrology, from June 16 to July 15. See also Geminga, Gemini gamma - ray source Gemini in Chinese astronomy IC 444, reflection nebula Messier 35 open cluster References Jump up ^ K12.mi.us Jump up ^ Constellation drawings ( often but not always ) following `` The Stars - A new way to see them '', H.A. Rey, 1952 -- 1980, ISBN 0 - 395 - 24830 - 2. Jump up ^ Zodiac # Table of dates Jump up ^ Elijah H. Burritt - The geography of the heavens and class book of astronomy : Accompanied by a celestial atlas Huntington, 1840 Retrieved 2012 - 06 - 25 Jump up ^ E Colbert Astronomy without a telescope : being a guide - book to the visible heavens, with all necessary maps and illustrations George & C.W. Sherwood, 1869 Retrieved 2012 - 06 - 27 ^ Jump up to : Ridpath & Tirion 2017, pp. 152 - 154. Jump up ^ `` U Geminorum ''. AAVSO. Retrieved 7 June 2012. Jump up ^ `` The Dreadful Beauty of Medusa ''. Retrieved 12 June 2015. Jump up ^ Levy 2005, p. 126. Jump up ^ Jenniskens, Peter ( September 2012 ). `` Mapping Meteoroid Orbits : New Meteor Showers Discovered ''. Sky & Telescope : 22. Jump up ^ Babylonian Star - lore by Gavin White, Solaria Pubs, 2008, page 125 Jump up ^ Ridpath & Tirion 2001, pp. 150 - 152. Jump up ^ Star Names : Their Lore and Meaning by Richard Hinckley Allen, Dover, 1963, page 229 Jump up ^ Cohen, Sheldon M. ; Burke, Paul ( 1990 ). `` New Evidence for the Dating of Aristotle Meteorologica 1 - 3 ''. Classical Philology. 85 ( 2 ) : 126 -- 129. doi : 10.1086 / 367188. JSTOR 269702. Jump up ^ Star Names : Their Lore and Meaning by Richard Hinckley Allen, Dover, 1963, page 236 Jump up ^ The Cambridge Guide to the Constellations by Michael E. Bakich, Cambridge University Press, 1995, page 210 Sources Levy, David H. ( 2005 ). Deep Sky Objects. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1 - 59102 - 361 - 0. Rey, H.A. ( 1997 ). The Stars -- A New Way To See Them ( Enlarged World - Wide ed. ). Boston : Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0 - 395 - 24830 - 2... Ridpath, Ian ; Tirion, Wil ( 2017 ). Stars and Planets Guide. London : Collins. ISBN 978 - 0 - 00 - 823927 - 5. Princeton : Princeton University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 691 - 17788 - 5. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Gemini ( category ) The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations : Gemini Astrojan Astronomical Picture Collection : The clickable Gemini WikiSky : Gemini constellation Ian Ridpath 's Star Tales : Gemini APOD Pictures of Gemini and Deep Sky Objects : A Spring Sky Over Hirsau Abbey The Eskimo Nebula from Hubble The Medusa Nebula Open Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158 NGC 2266 : Old Cluster in the NGC Warburg Institute Iconographic Database ( over 300 medieval and early modern images of Gemini ) Stars of Gemini Bayer α ( Castor ) β ( Pollux ) γ ( Alhena ) δ ( Wasat ) ε ( Mebsuta ) ζ ( Mekbuda ) η ( Propus ) θ ι κ λ μ ( Tejat ) ν ξ ( Alzirr ) ο ( Jishui ) π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ω Flamsteed 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 19 20 22 23 25 26 28 30 32 33 35 36 ( d ) 37 38 ( e ) 39 40 41 44 45 47 48 49 51 52 53 56 57 ( A ) 58 59 61 63 64 ( b ) 65 ( b ) 67 68 70 74 ( f ) 76 ( c ) 79 81 ( g ) 82 84 85 141 Tau Variable U RR RW RX RY SS TU TV WY ZZ AD AF AL AW BG BM BN CR DM DN DX IR IS NP NQ NZ OT OU OY PQ PS PZ V345 HR 2111 2169 2277 2304 2340 2366 2391 2417 2436 2439 2449 2457 2499 2533 2586 2597 2632 2635 2643 2649 2651 2660 2665 2669 2673 2692 2757 2780 2858 2877 2896 2926 2931 2936 2951 2953 2962 2965 2978 3030 3040 3053 HD 44780 45314 50554 54986 56176 58898 Gliese Gliese 232 Gliese 251 GJ 1093 Other BD + 20 ° 1790 CXOU J061705. 3 + 222127 Geminga HAT - P - 20 HAT - P - 24 HAT - P - 33 HAT - P - 39 WD J0651 + 2844 2MASS 0727 + 1710 2MASSW J0746425 + 200032 PSR B0611 + 22 PSR B0656 + 14 PSR J0751 + 1807 WISEP J060738. 65 + 242953.4 List The 88 modern constellations Andromeda Antlia Apus Aquarius Aquila Ara Aries Auriga Boötes Caelum Camelopardalis Cancer Canes Venatici Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus Carina Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Chamaeleon Circinus Columba Coma Berenices Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus Crater Crux Cygnus Delphinus Dorado Draco Equuleus Eridanus Fornax Gemini Grus Hercules Horologium Hydra Hydrus Indus Lacerta Leo Leo Minor Lepus Libra Lupus Lynx Lyra Mensa Microscopium Monoceros Musca Norma Octans Ophiuchus Orion Pavo Pegasus Perseus Phoenix Pictor Pisces Piscis Austrinus Puppis Pyxis Reticulum Sagitta Sagittarius Scorpius Sculptor Scutum Serpens Sextans Taurus Telescopium Triangulum Triangulum Australe Tucana Ursa Major Ursa Minor Vela Virgo Volans Vulpecula Lists of constellations Constellation history The 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD Andromeda Aquarius Aquila Ara Argo Navis Aries Auriga Boötes Cancer Canis Major Canis Minor Capricornus Cassiopeia Centaurus Cepheus Cetus Corona Australis Corona Borealis Corvus Crater Cygnus Delphinus Draco Equuleus Eridanus Gemini Hercules Hydra Leo Lepus Libra Lupus Lyra Ophiuchus Orion Pegasus Perseus Pisces Piscis Austrinus Sagitta Sagittarius Scorpius Serpens Taurus Triangulum Ursa Major Ursa Minor Virgo The 41 additional constellations added in the 16th and 17th centuries Vespucci or Corsalius early 16c : Crux Triangulum Australe Vopel 1536 : Coma Berenices Keyser & de Houtman 1596 : Apus Chamaeleon Dorado Grus Hydrus Indus Musca Pavo Phoenix Tucana Volans Plancius 1613 : Camelopardalis Columba Monoceros Habrecht 1621 : Reticulum Hevelius 1683 : Canes Venatici Lacerta Leo Minor Lynx Scutum Sextans Vulpecula de Lacaille 1763 : Antlia Caelum Carina Circinus Fornax Horologium Mensa Microscopium Norma Octans Pictor Puppis Pyxis Sculptor Telescopium Vela Obsolete constellations ( including Ptolemy 's Argo Navis ) Anser Antinous Apes Argo Navis Asterion Cancer Minor Cerberus Chara Custos Messium Felis Frederici Honores / Gloria Frederici Gallus Globus Aerostaticus Jordanus Lilium Lochium Funis Machina Electrica Malus Mons Maenalus Musca Borealis Noctua Officina Typographica Polophylax Psalterium Georgianum / Harpa Georgii Quadrans Muralis Ramus Pomifer Robur Carolinum Sceptrum Brandenburgicum Sceptrum et Manus Iustitiae Solarium Rangifer / Tarandus Taurus Poniatovii Telescopium Herschelii Testudo Tigris Triangulum Minus Turdus Solitarius Vespa Vultur cadens Vultur volans obsolete constellation names Apis Phoenicopterus Serpentarius Xiphias The Zodiac Astrological signs Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Western astrology House Triplicity Mode Cardinal Fixed Mutable Binary Positive ( astrology ) Negative ( astrology ) Related Ophiuchus Astronomy Axial precession Constellations of the Ecliptic Ecliptic coordinate system Planets in astrology Zodiacal light GND : 4068272 - 9 LCCN : sh2001008307 Coordinates : 07 00 00, + 20 ° 00 ′ 00 '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gemini_(constellation)&oldid=853715708 '' Categories : Gemini ( constellation ) Constellations Western astrology Northern constellations Constellations listed by Ptolemy Hidden categories : Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2002 All articles containing potentially dated statements Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Afrikaans Aragonés Asturianu Azərbaycanca বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български བོད ་ ཡིག Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Corsu Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 客家 語 / Hak - kâ - ngî 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Kurdî Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar Македонски മലയാളം मराठी مازِرونی Bahasa Melayu Mìng - 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Question: what are the names of the gemini twins
Answer: Castor and Pollux