Star profile
Pollux
Beta Geminorum · Gemini
Nearby starWhat is Pollux
Pollux burns with a steady orange hue at 33.8 light-years away, in the constellation of Gemini. In Greek myth he was the immortal twin, son of Zeus and brother of the mortal Castor; the sky chose to set the two side by side so that neither would be left alone after the first of them died. Its warm glow, which crosses European winter skies almost a century after leaving the star, departed at a time when mechanical clocks were just beginning to order the quiet life of medieval cathedrals.
Where it is and when to see it
Pollux lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky: visible even from a city. Its best month of the year is January: the Sun sits at the opposite point of the sky and the star culminates around midnight. How high it climbs above the horizon depends on the latitude you watch from.
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The signature wall
Stelvia's sky works like a signature wall: anyone can leave their name and a message on a real star, and that signature goes up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
A signature without a lock can be replaced by someone else's. The lock makes the signature permanent and lets you choose a symbolic name for the star, always shown next to the star's catalogue identifier. How the lock works
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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 Pollux
- Constellation
- Gemini
- Apparent magnitude
- 1.16
- Distance
- 33.8 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 116.329° · Dec 28.026°
- Catalogue
- HIP 37826 · HD 62509
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.
- CastorAlpha Geminorum1.58
- AlhenaGamma Geminorum1.93
- Castor BAlpha Geminorum2.85
- TejatMu Geminorum2.87
- MebsutaEpsilon Geminorum3.06
- PropusEta Geminorum3.31
- AlzirrXi Geminorum3.35
- WasatDelta Geminorum3.50