One of the easiest constellations to find during the winter season in the Northern hemisphere is
Auriga, and this is because it has this distinctive pattern in the sky, and this bright yellow star
called Capella, and in this video we will take a closer look at Capella, which is actually a
quadruple star system, along with getting some practice on recognizing this constellation.
Welcome to Learn the Sky, my name is Janine and I'll be your guide as we
explore the night sky together one constellation at a time.
Even though Capella appears to be a single star to the naked eye, it's actually a quadruple system
that is made up of two binary pairs, including two yellow giant stars and two red dwarf companions.
Capella is estimated to be 42.9 light years away, and the name Capella means 'little goat' in Latin.
It's the sixth brightest star in the night sky, however it's the third brightest in the Northern
hemisphere, and as you're looking at this picture here is the shape that I see when I see Auriga.
I see the pentagon shape, and those are the five stars that stand out to me, but Capella
is the brightest one. So let's dive in a little bit deeper to this star system.
So the two main stars are yellow giant stars. What does this mean? It means that they burn through
their hydrogen, and now they're starting to move off the main sequence band. They are estimated to
orbit each other every 104 days, and they're much bigger than the Sun in the sense, let's get a,
let's get in a picture, and idea of how big they are compared to the Sun. They're about two and a
half times the mass of our own Sun, so if this were a picture of our Sun, here is a size comparison of
Capella Aa and Ab. These are the two main yellow giant binary stars, and then the other red dwarfs
here are dubbed Capella H, and Capella L, and if we were to get another visual, right here is where
they are, and this second pair is much farther away than these two are. It's estimated these are
ten thousand astronomical units from the two main binary stars. So it's interesting that when you're
actually looking at Capella this is a quadruple star system. So in the next portion of this video
we're gonna get some practice with how to find Capella in the sky. Now let's get some practice
with how to identify Auriga and its bright star Cappella in the sky. So here we have a celestial
map of what Auriga looks like, and I do have a whole separate video about this constellation
and the celestial objects that are located within this constellation, so be sure to go see that video,
but we're going to focus on Capella and being able to find this yellow giant star system.
So when I look at Auriga the constellation, I often see the pentagon shape, but it's supposed
to represent a goat herder, and here you can see maybe perhaps this is its head with a little hat,
this is his eye, and this is his nose. So I'm just guessing at the that, I know uh different
cultures from around the world will see different patterns, but here we have a easy to find picture
of Auriga, and this is definitely a very beautiful picture to see, but not typically
what you would see if you're going to be in an area with lots of light pollution. This is
a long exposure photograph so that allows some of the stars of the background to shine through.
So here is the pattern of Auriga, and this is where Capella is. Notice that as you're looking at this
picture here of Capella, there's three bright stars here, and it's kind of a red, white, and blue color.
So I often look for this little triangular pattern right next to Capella, let's take a look at another
picture. As you're looking at this photo there's three main constellations, and Capella is the
brightest star of this photograph. So right over here, and if we were to point out the different
constellations in this photograph we have Auriga, which is connected to Taurus, right there.
We have this pattern of Gemini and this is Canis Minor. Let's keep getting some more practice, here
again is this picture, and we see this is kind of what I see when I look at Auriga. These five stars
are the one that stands out, but it does share a star with the constellation Taurus. It's not
common for constellations to share a star, but this is one of them. So here are the horns of Taurus,
and this is Aldebaran the bright star within the constellation Taurus, and then here's the other ,
here's what the official star pattern is, but that's not kind of what I see, I've always, I
was always grown up and taught that this was the star pattern, but in fact it does look like this.
So I hope this video is helpful for you just to help you identify what Auriga looks like in the
sky, and that when you're looking at Capella you're looking at a quadruple star system.
I do have one more shot here. This shows you a good portion of the winter night sky during the winter
season in the northern hemisphere, and here you can see this is where Orion is, and you can use Orion
to help you find Auriga, and that's the brightest star rate there. So it's right at the tippy top,
but use Orion to help you find all the other constellations in the sky.
Capella is also a part of the asterism known as the Winter Hexagon and the Winter Hexagon
is another asterism that can be seen during the winter months in the Northern hemisphere,
and it's a very large asterism that connects the six brightest stars of all these different
constellations in the winter sky, and it can be a challenge to point this out simply because
the asterism is so large in the sky. So here are the main stars that are part of the Winter
Hexagon, and if we were to point those out here is where Capella is, and then it connects with
Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, and Pollux of Gemini, and if we were to point out which
constellations are connected with each of these stars, this is what that would look like. So again
our focus for this video is Capella. It's a part of the constellation Auriga, and again it's connected
to Taurus by one star, right there, then we have Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor and finally Gemini.
This concludes our video about Capella the brightest star in the constellation known as
Auriga. Auriga is one of the easiest constellations to me to point out, and most of that is because of
Capella. It's this bright yellow star that really stands out compared to the rest of the stars, and
I've got another picture here. Here we have Auriga, Gemini, and Canis Minor and you can easily see that
Capella is the brightest star, and every time you look at this star system you're actually looking at
a quadruple star system. You have the two yellow giant stars that are circling each other every
104 days, and they've run out of hydrogen. They're now burning helium, and they've grown in size when
compared to our own sun, and don't forget there's also two red dwarfs apart that are a part of this
star system as well. Red dwarf stars are some of the most common that are out there. They're just
not always easy to see because they're so small, therefore they're dim, but Capella is
a quadruple star system, and it is such a beautiful constellation. I simply love this photo. You can see
how bright Capella is, you can see the red, white, and blue star triangle pattern right underneath
it, and some of the celestial objects are also coming through in this photograph as well. So
remember as you go outside it takes time, patience, and practice. I of course encourage you to escape
light pollution. Try to see the stars with really really dark skies that's when you'll be able to
see the star patterns come through. Thank you so much for watching and as always keep looking up.