Happy Wednesday fellow space-buddies! For this week’s Stargazing Side Quest we are going to leave the solar system and check out the sixth brightest star in the night sky, Capella!
Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga. To find Capella, I like to start at Orion and keep looking up from it until I come across another bright star. You can also use the Big Dipper to find Capella. Tonight if you start from Betelgeuse, you’ll also get to see Mars as you trace your way up to Capella.
Capella may look like a single star from our perspective, but it’s actually a multi-star system. The two brightest stars are basically twins that orbit each other. The two orbit so closely there’s actually less distance between them than between us and our sun!
Let us know if you find Capella tonight! Be sure to tag @stargazingsidequest and @liminal.earth with your sky pics and stargazing setups! Wishing you all clear skies and weird adventures!
Learn more about Capella here:
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meet-capella-goat-star/
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/star-capella/
https://www.space.com/21989-capella-star.html