The Castor Star

Castor (Alpha Geminorum) is a blue main sequence dwarf star that can be located in the constellation of Gemini. The description is based on the spectral class. Castor is the 24th brightest star in the night sky and the 2nd brightest star in Gemini based on the Hipparcos 2007 apparent magnitude. The star can be seen with the naked eye, that is, you don't need a telescope/binoculars to see it.

The information for Castor on this site is based on the Hipparcos Catalogue which doesn`t differentiate the three stars that make up the star system. If you wanted to break the stars down, you would need to search on the Bonner Durchmusterung number. The numbers are A - BD+32°1581A, B - BD+32°1581B and C - BD +32° 1582

Although the star is referred to as the Alpha star in the constellation, it is not as bright as its twin, Pollux which is a yellow supergiant.

Castor's Alternative Names
Alpha Geminorum (Alf Gem) is the Bayer Classification for the star. The Id of the star in the Yale Bright Star Catalogue is HR2891. HIP36850 is the reference name for the star in the Hipparcos Star Catalogue. The Id of the star in the Henry Draper catalogue is HD60179. The Gliese ID of the star is GL 278A. The star was part of the original catalogue devised by German Astronomer Wilheim Gliese of stars located within 20 parsecs of Earth. Star Names

Castor has alternative name(s) :- Castor A.

Flamsteed designations are named after the creator, Sir John Flamsteed. Sir John numbered the stars in the constellation with a number and the latin name, this star's Flamsteed designation is 66 Geminorum with it shortened to 66 Gem.

BD number is the number that the star was filed under in the Durchmusterung or Bonner Durchmusterung, a star catalogue that was put together by the Bonn Observatory between 1859 to 1903. The star's BD Number is BD+32 1581.

More details on star alternative names can be found at Star Names .

Location of Castor
The location of the star in the night sky is determined by the Right Ascension (R.A.) and Declination (Dec.), these are equivalent to the Longitude and Latitude on the Earth. The Right Ascension is how far expressed in time (hh:mm:ss) the star is along the celestial equator. If the R.A. is positive then its eastwards. The Declination is how far north or south the star is compared to the celestial equator and is expressed in degrees. For Castor, the location is 07h 34m 36.00 and +31° 53` 19.1 .
Radial Velocity and Proper Motion of Castor
All stars like planets orbit round a central spot, in the case of planets, its the central star such as the Sun. In the case of a star, its the galactic centre. The constellations that we see today will be different than they were 50,000 years ago or 50,000 years from now. Proper Motion details the movements of these stars and are measured in milliarcseconds. The star is moving -145.19 ± 2.63 miliarcseconds/year towards the north and -191.45 ± 3.75 miliarcseconds/year east if we saw them in the horizon.

The Radial Velocity, that is the speed at which the star is moving away/towards the Sun is 5.40 km/s with an error of about 0.50 km/s . When the value is negative then the star and the Sun are getting closer to one another, likewise, a positive number means that two stars are moving away. Its nothing to fear as the stars are so far apart, they won't collide in our life-time, if ever.

Castor Luminosity
Luminosity is the amount of energy that a star pumps out and its relative to the amount that our star, the Sun gives out. The figure of 53.40 that I have given is based on the value in the Simbad Hipparcos Extended Catalogue at the University of Strasbourg from 2012.

Physical Properties (Colour, Temperature) of Castor
Castor has a spectral type of A2Vm. This means the star is a blue main sequence dwarf star. The star is 7,414.00 Parsecs from the Galactic Centre or terms of Light Years is 24,181.75 s. The star has a B-V Colour Index of 0.03 which means the star's temperature has been calculated using information from Morgans @ Uni.edu at being 9,140 Kelvin.

Castor Radius has been calculated as being 2.84 times bigger than the Sun.The Sun's radius is 695,800km, therefore the star's radius is an estimated 1,974,647.80.km. If you need the diameter of the star, you just need to multiple the radius by 2. However with the 2007 release of updated Hipparcos files, the radius is now calculated at being round 2.81. The figure is derived at by using the formula from SDSS and has been known to produce widely incorrect figures.

Castor Apparent and Absolute Magnitudes
Castor has an apparent magnitude of 1.58 which is how bright we see the star from Earth. Apparent Magnitude is also known as Visual Magnitude. If you used the 1997 Parallax value, you would get an absolute magnitude of 0.59 If you used the 2007 Parallax value, you would get an absolute magnitude of 0.61. Magnitude, whether it be apparent/visual or absolute magnitude is measured by a number, the smaller the number, the brighter the Star is. Our own Sun is the brightest star and therefore has the lowest of all magnitudes, -26.74. A faint star will have a high number.

Distance to Castor
Using the original Hipparcos data that was released in 1997, the parallax to the star was given as 63.27 which gave the calculated distance to Castor as 51.55 light years away from Earth or 15.81 parsecs. It would take a spaceship travelling at the speed of light, 51.55 years to get there. We don't have the technology or spaceship that can carry people over that distance yet.

In 2007, Hipparcos data was revised with a new parallax of 64.12 which put Castor at a distance of 50.87 light years or 15.60 parsecs. It should not be taken as though the star is moving closer or further away from us. It is purely that the distance was recalculated.

The star's Galacto-Centric Distance is 7,414.00 Parsecs or 24,181.75 Light Years. The Galacto-Centric Distance is the distance from the star to the Centre of the Galaxy which is Sagittarius A*.

Meteor Showers Radiating from near Castor
The Geminids Meteor Shower radiants from a point near this star. The meteor shower runs typically between December 6-19 with a peak date of Dec. 13/14. The speed of a meteor in the shower is 34 Km/s. The amount of meteors predicted to be seen per hour (Zenith Hourly Rate) is 34.
Source of Information
The source of the information if it has a Hip I.D. is from Simbad, the Hipparcos data library based at the University at Strasbourg, France. Hipparcos was a E.S.A. satellite operation launched in 1989 for four years. The items in red are values that I've calculated so they could well be wrong. Information regarding Metallicity and/or Mass is from the E.U. Exoplanets. The information was obtained as of 12th Feb 2017

Alternative Names Alpha Geminorum, Alf Gem, Castor A, HD 60179, HIP 36850, HR 2891, 66 Geminorum, 66 Gem, BD+32 1581, Gliese 278A
Spectral Type A2Vm
Multiple Star System Yes
Star Type main sequence Dwarf Star
Colour blue
Galaxy Milky Way
Constellation Gemini
Absolute Magnitude 0.59 / 0.61
Visual / Apparent Magnitude 1.58
Naked Eye Visible Yes - Magnitudes
Right Ascension (R.A.) 07h 34m 36.00
Declination (Dec.) +31° 53` 19.1
Galactic Latitude 22.48 degrees
Galactic Longitude 187.44 degrees
1997 Distance from Earth 63.27 Parallax (milliarcseconds)
51.55 Light Years
15.81 Parsecs
2007 Distance from Earth 64.12 Parallax (milliarcseconds)
50.87 Light Years
15.60 Parsecs
Galacto-Centric Distance 24,181.75 Light Years / 7,414.00 Parsecs
Proper Motion Dec. -145.19 ± 2.63 milliarcseconds/year
Proper Motion RA. -191.45 ± 3.75 milliarcseconds/year
B-V Index 0.03
Radial Velocity 5.40 ± 0.50 km/s
Eccentricity 0.08
Semi-Major Axis 8011.00
Stellar Luminosity (Lsun) 53.40
Brightest in Night Sky 24th
Associated / Clustered Stars Castor B
Castor C
Companions (Multi-Star and Exoplanets) Facts

Exoplanet Count None/Unaware
Estimated Facts

Calculated Effective Temperature 9,140 Kelvin

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