Auriga | Universe Today

Written by Tammy Plotner

Auriga

The northern constellation of Auriga is a beautiful, large pentagon shape situated along the Milky Way. It is a curiosity because it has no Gamma star – it shares it with Taurus. Auriga's Gamma is Taurus' Beta! It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and counts as one of the 88 modern constellations. Its brightest star is Capella, which is associated with the mythological she-goat Amalthea. The stars ? Aurigae and ? Aurigae are called Haedi (the Kids).

In mythology, Auriga is the charioteer. In ancient times, chariot races were held every four years in the city of Delphi and if we were to tell a story those races were to honor the sky god, Apollo. In those times, chariot drivers were usually teenage boys, chosen mainly because they were light and agile. As myth would have it, there was a young man called Scopos, who once raced his magical horse Pegasus in a chariot race. Perhaps he was immortalized in the stars?

While viewing Auriga's stars, pay particular attention to yellow giant Alpha Aurigae, called Capella – is the 6th brightest star in the sky (0.08 magnitude) and also a spectroscopic binary consisting of a G5III and a G0III that revolve each other every 104 days. Menkalinen, or Beta Aurigae, is also a spectroscopic binary. However, it rotates far faster, completing its circuit in just four days! This eclipsing binary pair makes the brightness of Beta vary. Epsilon Aurigae is also an eclipsing binary, but one that has an extraordinarily long period -27.1 years. While it only drops .8 of a magnitude, it's dark companion is a 10-12 solar mass black hole. According to studies done by Wilson and Cameron a ring of obscuring material surrounds the black hole and accounts for the magnitude drop. Don't skip Zeta Aurigae, either. It's a K4 giant that's also an eclipsing binary. It has a B8 main sequence star which revolves around it in less than 3 years!

More binary stars? Then get out your telescopes and star resolving. Double star Omega Auriga can be split with small telescopes and consists of a 5th and a 8th magnitude pair. Or try disparate double Theta Aurigae – it's a 2.62 primary and a 7.0 secondary.

If you use binoculars, the splendid Milky Way star field is rich with open clusters that are easily spotted are resolved. Open cluster M36 is a nice compression and contains about 60 stars to a small telescope. Slightly egg-shaped M38 is another easy binocular target and M38 is a very rich open cluster that is well done in any instrument. For telescopes, do not over-look IC 410. This is a diffuse nebula with a cluster of stars that is more commonly known as the "Flaming Star"!

There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation of Auriga. The Aurigids become active between January 31st, and February 23rd and are known for sporadic bright fireballs. From August 25th through September 6th, the Alpha Aurigid meteor stream is active. It has an average fall rate of about 9 meteors per hour, but outbursts of up to 30 were observed in 1935 and 1986. The Delta Aurigid meteor stream becomes active between September 22nd and October 23rd. A good time to look for peak activity for this branch is during the week beginning on October 6th through the 15th.

Constellation Chart Provided by Your Sky