Auriga, the Charioteer, is a pentagon of stars in the northern winter sky, led by golden Capella and crossed by the Milky Way with its rich open clusters.
At a glance
| stars in the figure | 9 |
|---|---|
| nearest star of the figure | Capella Aa, 42.8 light-years (13.1 pc) |
| farthest star of the figure | Almaaz, 2,130 light-years (654 pc) |
| depth | the farthest is 50 × farther than the nearest |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Auriga
Auriga is an ancient Greek figure of a charioteer, often drawn carrying a goat and her kids. Capella, the goat, is a pair of yellow giant stars too close to be split by eye. Beside it a small triangle of stars, including Haedus and Saclateni, are the kids. Elnath, at the pentagon’s lower corner, is shared with Taurus as the tip of the bull’s horn.
Almaaz, in the triangle of the kids, is a famous eclipsing star: at long intervals a vast dark disc passes in front of it and dims it for many months. The Milky Way runs through the figure, with open clusters M36, M37 and M38 in binocular reach. From much of Europe Capella never sets; Auriga is best seen on winter evenings.
What you see in the piece
Flown out to, Capella comes forward as a near neighbour, while Almaaz lies far deeper, and the neat pentagon becomes a scatter of stars at very different depths.
Measured or modelled
What eclipses Almaaz is inferred, not seen: a dark disc of dust around a hidden companion star is the accepted explanation, but the companion’s nature is still debated.
Questions
What is the brightest star in Auriga?
Capella, which is actually a close pair of yellow giant stars orbiting each other.
How far away are the stars of Auriga?
They range from Capella Aa, 42.8 light-years (13.1 pc), to Almaaz, 2,130 light-years (654 pc): the farthest is 50 × farther than the nearest.