01/19/2023 – Ephemeris – Gemini, twins with a secret

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, January 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 5:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:13. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:38 tomorrow morning.

Another famous winter constellation is Gemini. The constellation of Gemini the Twins is visible halfway to the zenith in the east, at the top and left of Orion the hunter, at 9 pm. The namesake stars of the two lads, are the two bright stars at the left end of Gemini, and are high and are due east. Castor is on top, while Pollux is below. From them come two lines of stars that outline the two, extending horizontally toward Orion. In Greek mythology the lads were half brothers, Castor was fathered by a mere mortal, while Pollux was fathered by Zeus, but were born together as twins. When Castor was killed during the quest for the Golden Fleece, Pollux pleaded with Zeus to let him die also, so Zeus placed them together in the sky.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Gemini finder animation for the second half of January 2023. It’s dated because Mars is dawdling in Taurus near the Pleiades. Mars is now back to heading eastward once again, after being in retrograde or westward motion as the Earth passed it in early December. Mars will officially enter Gemini in March. Created using Stellarium, and GIMP.