Star profile

Mebsuta

Epsilon Geminorum · Gemini

Highly luminous star

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Mebsuta

Mebsuta spreads its white A-type light 845 light-years away in the body of Gemini. Its name comes from the Arabic «Al-Mabsūṭa», «the outstretched one», referring to the extended paw of a celestial lion in a Bedouin figure that predates the Greek myth of Castor and Pollux. It is a luminous supergiant whose light, having departed when the Iberian Christian kingdoms were taking shape after the year 1000, crosses the Gould Belt — that band of young hot stars wrapping our region of the galactic disc.

Where it is and when to see it

Mebsuta 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 64° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 74° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 31° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 65° S.

It ranks no. 6 in brightness among the 74 stars of Gemini in our catalogue. To find it, start from Pollux, the brightest: it lies about 14° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 850 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Mebsuta

Constellation: Gemini
Apparent magnitude: 3.06
Distance: 845.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 100.983° · Dec 25.131°
Catalogue: HIP 32246 · HD 48329

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Other stars in Gemini

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

See all 74 stars in Gemini