Day 2: Castor and Pollux

Castor and Pollux in the sky

Castor and Pollux Statues

          Did you ever find it ironic how Castor and Pollux, two stars in the night sky, have the same names of the Greek mythological figures? Well, they actually have a direct relationship. The stars' names derive from one of my favorite Greek mythology tales; the tale of Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux were both born to the same mother, Leda, however, Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, while Pollux was the immortal son of Zeus. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus if he could share his immortality with Castor to keep them together. Zeus transformed them into the constellation Gemini, the latin term used to define the twins.
          Castor, the star, is the second brightest star in the constellation Gemini. Castor is 49.8 light years away from the Earth. Despite the fact that Castor (Alpha Geminorum) has the Bayer designation, "Alpha," it is actually dimmer than Pollux, (Beta Geminorum.) This is weird because Bayer assigned each star a Greek letter in order of brightness, from brightest to dimmest.
          Pollux is an orange giant star, and is scientifically classified as HD 62509. It's 34 light years away from Earth. Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation. In 2006, it was discovered to have an exoplanet orbiting it.