Auriga (constellation)

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Auriga
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Abbreviation	Aur
Genitive	Aurigae
Symbology	the Charioteer
Right ascension	6 h
Declination	+40°
Area	List of constellations by area>Ranked 21st
Number of stars (magnitude < 3)	4
Brightest star	Capella (α Aur) (Apparent magnitude>App. magnitude 0.08)
Meteor showers	Alpha Aurigids Delta Aurigids
Bordering constellations	Camelopardalis Perseus Taurus Gemini Lynx
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −40° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of February
Auriga (Latin for charioteer) is a northern constellation. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and counts as one of the 88 modern constellations. Its brightest star is Capella, which is associated with the mythological she-goat Amalthea. The three stars Epsilon, Zeta and Eta Aurigae are called Haedi (the Kids). Contents 1 Notable features 2 Notable deep sky objects 3 Mythology 4 Graphic visualization 4.1 Reference 5 Notable and named stars 6 See also 7 External links Notable features Two peculiar binary stars, ε Aurigae and ζ Aurigae. ε Aurigae is one of the strangest binary stars. The orbital period is about 27 years, with an eclipse duration of about 18 months. The visible companion is a yellowish (F-class) supergiant. The type of the other star is not known. ζ Aurigae has a period of 970 days, the primary is a (K-class) supergiant and the secondary is a (B-class) main sequence star. Both these systems present a rare stage of binary evolution, as the components are in a short and active evolutionary stage. Notable deep sky objects Auriga contains three bright open clusters, M36, M37 and M38. Two other open clusters are NGC 2281, lying close to Psi7 Aurigae, and NGC 1664, which is close to Epsilon Aurigae It also has IC 405, known as the Flaming Star Nebula, found a few degrees to the right of M38. AE Aurigae is a bright variable star within the Flaming Star Nebula. Mythology The constellation may date back to Babylonian times as Rukubi, the chariot. The Romans identified this constellation with Erichthonius, the lame son of Vulcan (whom the Greeks referred to as Hephaestus) and Minerva (whom the Greeks referred to as Athena), who invented the four-horse chariot. Before the classical era, it was also identified as a chariot and its driver, which, considering its fainter stars visible to the naked eye, it resembles. However, the driver was considered to be a shepherd, usually one which had flung a goat over its left shoulder (due to the resemblance of that area to a lump), and had its kids (two bright stars) nearby. Together with the area of the sky that is deserted (now considered as the new and extremely faint constellations Camelopardalis and Lynx), and the other features of the area in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. the Milky Way, and the constellations Gemini, Orion, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Heracles. Graphic visualization Diagram of an alternate way to connect the stars of the constellation Auriga. The charioteer's head is shown wearing a pointy cap and facing towards Perseus. The stars of the constellation Auriga can be connected in an alternative way, which graphically shows the charioteer's head wearing a pointy cap and facing towards Perseus. Stars Alpha Aurigae, Beta Aurigae, Theta Aurigae, Iota Aurigae, and Eta Aurigae form the charioteer's head: with Alpha Aurigae being of magnitude zero, Beta Aurigae being of magnitude two, and the rest of the stars being of magnitude three. Star Alpha Aurigae may be taken to represent the charioteer's eye, whereas star Iota Aurigae represents the charioteer's chin. Stars Beta Aurigae, Delta Aurigae, and Alpha Aurigae form the charioteer's pointy cap, with Delta Aurigae being the top of the cap. Finally, the stars Alpha Aurigae, Epsilon Aurigae, Zeta Aurigae, and Eta Aurigae form the charioteer's nose: Eta Aurigae being of the third magnitude. Reference H. A. Rey, The Stars — A New Way To See Them. Enlarged World-Wide Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997. ISBN 0-395-24830-2. Notable and named stars BD F Names and other designations Mag. Ly away Comments α 13 Capella, Alpha Aurigae, Alhajoth, Alhaior, Althaiot, Alhaiset, Alhatod, Alhojet, Alanac, Alanat, Alioc 0.08 42.2 Latin capella is the diminutive feminine of goat Alhajoth is probably an Arabized form of the Greek αίξ, aige, meaning "ram" spectroscopic binary β 34 Beta Aurigae, Menkalinan, Menkalina 1.90 82.1 < منكب ذي العنان mankib ðī-l-cinān Shoulder of the rein holder (charioteer) eclipsing spectroscopic binary θ 37 Theta Aurigae, Bogardus 2.65 173 ι 3 Iota Aurigae, Kabdhilinan, Hassaleh 2.69 512 Hassaleh in Becvar < كعب ذي العنان kacb ðī l-cinān The ankle of the rein holder (charioteer) ε 7 Epsilon Aurigae, Almaaz, Maaz, Al Anz 3.03 2000 < الماعز al-mācz The (billy) goat long period eclipsing binary η 10 Eta Aurigae, Haedus II, Hoedus II 3.18 219 < hædus The kid (plural hædi with ζ Aurigae) ζ 8 Zeta Aurigae, Sadatoni, Saclateni, Haedus I, Hoedus I 3.69 790 < الساعد الثاني as-sācid aθ-θānī/at-tānī The second arm < hædus The kid (plural hædi with η Aurigae) eclipsing binary δ 33 Delta Aurigae, Prijipati 3.72 140 < प्रजापति prajā pati ? Lord of creation ν 32 Nu Aurigae 3.97 215 π 35 Pi Aurigae 4.30 840 κ 44 Kappa Aurigae 4.32 169 τ 29 Tau Aurigae 4.51 213 16 16 Aurigae 4.54 λ 15 Lambda Aurigae 4.69 79.1 χ 25 Chi Aurigae 4.71 >2000 υ 31 Upsilon Aurigae 4.72 475 2 2 Aurigae 4.79 ψ2 50 Psi2 Aurigae 4.80 433 μ 11 Mu Aurigae 4.82 162 1 1 Aurigae 4.89 63 63 Aurigae 4.91 ψ1 46 Psi1 Aurigae 4.92 >2000 4 4 Aurigae 4.93 ξ 30 Xi Aurigae 4.96 241 9 9 Aurigae 4.98 ψ7 58 Psi7 Aurigae 4.99 364 14 14 Aurigae 5.01 σ 21 Sigma Aurigae 5.02 514 ψ4 55 Psi4 Aurigae 5.04 306 19 19 Aurigae 5.05 φ 24 Phi Aurigae 5.08 401 65 65 Aurigae 5.12 ρ 20 Rho Aurigae 5.22 642 ψ6 57 Psi6 Aurigae 5.22 424 66 66 Aurigae 5.23 ψ5 56 Psi5 Aurigae 5.24 53.9 49 49 Aurigae 5.26 ψ3 52 Psi3 Aurigae 5.34 760 45 45 Aurigae 5.34 40 40 Aurigae 5.35 26 26 Aurigae 5.40 UU Aurigae 5.40 1810 semiregular variable ο 27 Omicron Aurigae 5.46 482 41 41 Aurigae 5.64 binary star; component magnitudes: 6.09, 6.82 51 51 Aurigae 5.70 36 36 Aurigae 5.71 48 RT Aurigae 5.75 1560 Cepheid variable 53 53 Aurigae 5.76 WW Aurigae 5.82 275 eclipsing binary ψ9 Psi9 Aurigae 5.85 826 64 64 Aurigae 5.87 47 47 Aurigae 5.88 39 39 Aurigae 5.90 5 5 Aurigae 5.95 AE Aurigae 5.99 1460 runaway star Orion variable 54 54 Aurigae 6.02 62 62 Aurigae 6.02 38 38 Aurigae 6.08 59 59 Aurigae 6.10 17 AR Aurigae 6.15 398 eclipsing binary 60 60 Aurigae 6.32 43 43 Aurigae 6.33 22 22 Aurigae 6.45 ψ8 61 Psi8 Aurigae 6.46 830 6 6 Aurigae 6.46 42 42 Aurigae 6.53 18 18 Aurigae 6.49 12 12 Aurigae 6.9 HD 45350 7.88 160 has a planet HD 49674 8.10 134 has a planet γ Gamma Aurigae now designated β Tauri Source: The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed., The Hipparcos Catalogue, ESA SP-1200 See also External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: [Special] [The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Auriga] [The clickable Auriga]   From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 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