Capella
Yellow giant binary · Alpha Aurigae
Brightest star in Auriga
Though it looks like a single golden point, Capella is actually a close pair of yellow giant stars orbiting each other, and it is the most northerly first-magnitude star in the sky.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
5,272 K
surface · yellow dwarf, like our Sun
42 ly
from Earth
0.1
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 0.1
Its light has been travelling 42 years to reach us, so you see Capella as it was 42 years ago.
Source · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→