Pollux
Where is Pollux?
Look southeast, about 53° up at 05:17 in Gemini. It rises at 22:56 and climbs through the night.
- Rises
- 22:56
- Highest
- 07:47
- Sets
- 16:43
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 53°
Can I see Pollux tonight?
From London tonight, Pollux is above the horizon after dark. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the southeast at 53°.
At magnitude 1.1 it is one of the brighter points in the sky, easy to see by eye when it’s clear.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Pollux look like?
Pollux looks orange to the eye. Its spectral type is K0III: orange giant (cooler than the Sun).
Eyes
A bright orange star next to whiter Castor.
Binoculars
The color difference between Pollux and Castor is clear.
Telescope
A bright orange point. Castor is the better telescope target.
About Pollux
Pollux is the brightest star in Gemini, the Twins, slightly outshining its twin, Castor. It is an orange giant about 34 light-years away, the closest giant star to the Sun.
In 2006 astronomers announced a giant planet orbiting Pollux, one of the brightest stars known to host a planet.
In mythology, Castor and Pollux were twin brothers. Fittingly, the two stars look alike from Earth, but Pollux is orange and Castor is white.
Pollux is about twice the mass of the Sun and nearly nine times wider. It has already used up the hydrogen in its core.
Its planet, named Thestias, is a gas giant at least twice the mass of Jupiter, orbiting about once every 590 days.
Although Castor carries the label Alpha Geminorum, Pollux is the brighter of the two twins.
Castor and Pollux are highest on winter and early-spring evenings from mid-northern latitudes, and the Moon and planets often pass nearby, because Gemini lies on the ecliptic.
Pollux in Gemini
Questions
Which is brighter, Castor or Pollux?
Does Pollux have a planet?
Sources: SkyMate; Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences