Star profile

Tejat

Mu Geminorum · Gemini

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is Tejat

Tejat is a red giant variable in Gemini, 231 light-years away, cool and enormous as almost all stars at the dusk of their lives. Its name comes from Arabic and is associated with the idea of treading, in allusion to the foot of the twin Castor. Its brightness breathes with the slowness of months; each pulse is a layer of hydrogen fused in its ancient heart.

Where it is and when to see it

Tejat lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 61° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 72° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 34° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 67° S.

It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 74 stars of Gemini in our catalogue. To find it, start from Pollux, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 230 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.

Leave your signature on Tejat

Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.

Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works

We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.

Write my signature

A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.

Astronomical data for Tejat

Constellation: Gemini
Apparent magnitude: 2.87
Distance: 231.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 95.740° · Dec 22.514°
Catalogue: HIP 30343 · HD 44478

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Gemini

Gemini has 74 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 74 stars in Gemini