![]() The rest only have scientific (stellar) names. Only eleven of all the stars in Gemini have proper names.Of these six stars, two of them are about 3 times bigger than our Sun and two of them are about half the size of the Sun.The six stars in Castor are organized in three pairs of two stars each circling around each other.It is a sextuple star system which appears to be a single star to us without very specialized equipment. The best months to see Gemini are January and February when it is right overhead in the night sky.Even though the zodiac dates for Gemini go from May 21st to June 21st, the actual dates the Sun “passes” by the constellation are June 20 to July 20.In reality, Pollux is the brightest star and should have gotten that name. Castor got the “Alpha” name which is usually reserved for the brightest star. When they were getting their scientific name (Alpha Gem and Beta Gem respectively) the astronomer Johann Bayer didn’t correctly measure their brightness. The stellar designations for Castor and Pollux are switched.Even though they are referred to as the twins, Castor and Pollux were only half-brothers in Greek mythology. ![]()
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