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Gemini (constellation)
 
 
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Gemini is one of the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
s of the zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux
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....
 in Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. Its symbol is . It lies between Taurus
Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for cattle, and its symbol is , a stylized bull's head. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga , to the southeast Orion , to the south E...
 to the west and the dim Cancer
Cancer (constellation)

Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as such. Its symbol is . Cancer is small and its stars are faint....
 to the east, with Auriga
Auriga (constellation)

Auriga...
 and Lynx
Lynx (constellation)

Lynx is a constellation in the northern hemisphere's sky, introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is named after the lynx, a genus of cat....
 to the north and Monoceros
Monoceros

Monoceros is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Greek for unicorn. Its creation is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius....
 and Canis Minor
Canis Minor

Canis Minor is a small constellation. It was included in the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is still included among the 88 modern constellations....
 to the south.

ni includes the Open Cluster M35.






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Gemini is one of the constellation
Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars that appear to have a physical proximity in the sky. The stars in a constellation are often vastly distant from each other, but they appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth....
s of the zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
. Its name is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux
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....
 in Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. Its symbol is
Gemini
. It lies between Taurus
Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for cattle, and its symbol is , a stylized bull's head. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga , to the southeast Orion , to the south E...
 to the west and the dim Cancer
Cancer (constellation)

Cancer is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for crab and it is commonly represented as such. Its symbol is . Cancer is small and its stars are faint....
 to the east, with Auriga
Auriga (constellation)

Auriga...
 and Lynx
Lynx (constellation)

Lynx is a constellation in the northern hemisphere's sky, introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is named after the lynx, a genus of cat....
 to the north and Monoceros
Monoceros

Monoceros is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Greek for unicorn. Its creation is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius....
 and Canis Minor
Canis Minor

Canis Minor is a small constellation. It was included in the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is still included among the 88 modern constellations....
 to the south.

Notable features

Gemini includes the Open Cluster M35. NGC 2158
NGC 2158

NGC 2158 is an open cluster in the constellation of Gemini . It is located near Open Cluster M35, and is believed to be just over 1 billion years old....
 is just southeast of M35. Also of note is the unique Eskimo Nebula
Eskimo Nebula

The Eskimo Nebula , also known as the Clownface Nebula, is a bipolar nebula double-shell planetary nebula . It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787....
, (also known as the Clownface Nebula) just southeast of the NGC 2420 open star cluster. Far northeast of this cluster lies NGC 2371, a planetary nebula next to the Gemini twin on the right. Another popular nebula in Gemini lies in the southern tip of the constellation, Abell 21 the Medusa Nebula
Medusa Nebula

The Medusa Nebula is a very old and large planetary nebula in the constellation of Gemini on the Canis Minor border. As it is so big, its surface brightness is very low, with surface magnitudes of between +15.99 and +25 reported....
.

Visualizations

Gemini is dominated by Castor
Castor (star)

Castor is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini and list of brightest stars in the nighttime sky. Although it has the Bayer designation "alpha", it is actually fainter than Beta Geminorum ....
 and Pollux
Pollux (star)

Pollux, also cataloged as Beta Geminorum , is an orange giant star approximately 34 light-years away in the constellation of Gemini ....
, two bright stars that appear relatively close together, encouraging the mythological link between the constellation and twinship. The twin to the right is Castor
Castor

Castor or CASTOR may refer to:...
, whose brightest star is α Geminorum (more commonly called Castor), is of the second magnitude, and represents Castor's head. The twin to the left is Pollux
Pollux

Pollux may refer to:*EAS Pollux, a spaceship in the television series Babylon 5*Julius Pollux, a Greek rhetorician*Pollux in the Pennine Alps, Italy/Switzerland...
, whose brightest star is β Geminorum (more commonly called Pollux), 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 a pair of twins holding hands. Pollux's torso is represented by star υ Geminorum, Pollux's right hand by ι Geminorum
Iota Geminorum

Iota Geminorum is a Stellar classification, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Gemini . It is called by the proper name Propus, meaning "forefoot" in Arabic language....
, Pollux's left hand by κ Geminorum
Kappa Geminorum

Kappa Geminorum is a Stellar classification, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Gemini . It is occasionally called by the Arabic language name Al Kirkab, meaning "The Vineyard Husbandman"....
: all three of these stars are of the fourth magnitude. Pollux's pelvis is represented by star δ Geminorum
Delta Geminorum

Delta Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini . It also has the traditional name Wasat.The traditional name comes from the Arabic language word for "middle", but it is not certain whether this refers to the middle of Gemini or of the nearby constellation Orion ....
, Pollux's right knee by ζ Geminorum
Zeta Geminorum

Zeta Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini . It also has the traditional name Mekbuda.It is located on the outstretched left "leg" of the twin Pollux ....
, Pollux's right foot by γ Geminorum
Gamma Geminorum

Gamma Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini . It also has traditional names Alhena and Almeisan. It is known as ??? in Chinese....
, Pollux's left knee by λ Geminorum
Lambda Geminorum

Lambda Geminorum is a Stellar classification, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Gemini . It is sometimes called by the proper name Kebash or Alkibash, meaning "The Rams" in Arabic language....
, and Pollux's left foot by ξ Geminorum
Xi Geminorum

Xi Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini . It also has the traditional name Alzir.Xi Geminorum belongs to stellar classification F6 and has apparent magnitude +3.4....
. Gamma Geminorum is of the second magnitude, while delta and xi Geminorum are of the third magnitude. Castor's torso is represented by the star τ Geminorum
Tau Geminorum

Tau Geminorum is a star in Gemini constellation. It has the spectral type K2III or orange giant, meaning the star is probably fusing carbon and oxygen in its core to form iron and nickel....
, Castor's left hand by ι Geminorum
Iota Geminorum

Iota Geminorum is a Stellar classification, fourth-magnitude star in the constellation Gemini . It is called by the proper name Propus, meaning "forefoot" in Arabic language....
 (which he shares with Pollux), Castor's right hand by θ Geminorum: all three of these stars are of the fourth magnitude. Castor's pelvis is represented by the star ε Geminorum
Epsilon Geminorum

Epsilon Geminorum is a star in the constellation of Gemini . It also has traditional name Mebsuta .It is located on the outstretched right "leg" of the twin Castor ....
, Castor's left foot by ν Geminorum, and Castor's right foot by μ Geminorum
Mu Geminorum

Mu Geminorum is a star in the constellation Gemini , approximately 230 light years away from Earth. It has the traditional names Tejat Posterior, which means back foot, and Tejat, because it is the foot of Castor , one of the Gemini twins....
 and η Geminorum
Eta Geminorum

Eta Geminorum is a triple star system in the constellation Gemini . It also has the traditional names Tejat Prior, Propus and Praepes....
: e, µ, and ? Geminorum are of the third magnitude.

Mythology

Gemini was associated with the myth of Castor and Pollux
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....
, collectively known as the Dioscuri. One myth of these twins concerns cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
 theft, and may be connected to early myths that described the Milky Way
Milky Way

The Milky Way, sometimes called simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies....
 as a herd of dairy
Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from goat or cattle, but also from bovine, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption....
 cows. On star maps, the twins are usually viewed as leaning away from the Milky Way, but are sometimes depicted with one of the twins residing in the Milky Way, and the other outside it, a situation making it appear that one of the twins is stealing the cattle, and the other is observing. Along with the other features of the area in the Zodiac
Zodiac

Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens through the constellations that divide the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude....
 sign of Gemini (i.e. Orion, Auriga
Auriga (constellation)

Auriga...
, and Canis Major
Canis Major

File:CMa setting.jpgCanis Major is a constellation, included in the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and still included among the 88 modern constellations....
), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon
Geryon

In Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean....
, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Heracles
Heracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles meaning "glory of Hera", or "Glorious through Hera" Alcides or Alcaeus " was a hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus....
.

Astrology


, the Sun appears in the constellation Gemini from June 20 to July 20. In tropical astrology
Tropical Astrology

Tropical astrology is a type of astrology based on a zodiac whose points of reference are the tropics. The word tropic comes from the Greek for "turning point," and originally meant the point at which the sun at sunrise and sunset appears to turn, and to move north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere along the...
, the Sun is considered to be in the sign Gemini
Gemini (astrology)

Gemini is the third astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the Gemini . In western astrology, this sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the Precession ....
 from May 22 to June 23, and in sidereal astrology
Sidereal astrology

Sidereal astrology is the system of astrology used by some Western and all Jyotish astrology who base their interpretation around the use of the Sidereal time zodiac....
, from June 16 to July 15.

See also

  • Messier 35
    Messier 35

    Messier 35 is an open cluster in the constellation Gemini . It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Ch?seaux in 1745 and independently discovered by John Bevis before 1750....
     open cluster
  • Geminga
    Geminga

    Geminga, is a neutron star approximately 552 light-years away from the Sun in the constellation Gemini . Its name is a contraction of "Gemini gamma-ray source", and coincidentally means "it's not there" in the Italy Milanese dialect....
    , Gemini gamma-ray source


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