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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:15 
Transit: 12:47 
Sunset: 18:17
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All Constellations » Gemini » 

Castor - α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 21:56 | Tran: 7:22 | Set: 16:44
Alt: 5.66°   Az: 43.40°   Direction: North-East

Castor, also designated as α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum), is a variable and multiple main-sequence star of spectral class A1 in the constellation of Gemini.

Castor visual magnitude is 1.98, making it the 46th brightest star in the sky. Because of its brightness, Castor is clearly visible to the naked eye when observed from locations with dark skies, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

Image of Castor - α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum) star
DSS2 image of Castor. The red arrow shows the motion of Castor during the next 1000 years (-2.85 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.63 arcmin in declination);

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

07h 36m 10s
+31° 49’ 57”
15h 34m 21s
23h 10m 32s

J2000

07h 34m 36s
+31° 53’ 17”

Galactic Coordinates

187.44°
22.48°

Finder Chart

Finder chart Castor - α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum) star
Simplified finder chart for Castor - α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum).

Magnitude, Color, Spectral Class

1.98
Main-sequence

0.99
A1V
9766K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where Castor is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of Castor. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Star System Properties

Castor is a visual double star which can be observed with the help of medium or large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Castor double sysyem:

1.98
2.88
0.9
2 arcsec

Distance, Radial Speed, Proper Motion

Castor is distant 51.53 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 6 kilometers per second.

15.81
51.53
6 km/s
-0.171 arcsec/y
-0.098"/y

Alternative Designations

Castor
α Geminorum
(alpha Geminorum)
66 Geminorum
Gl 278 A

Visibility from Your Location

Today's Castor - α Geminorum (alpha Geminorum) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 58.2°
Max altitude: 70.4°
Azimuth: 301.8°