Castor the Star By: Maria R.

Some things to know about CASTOR Castor is part of a sextuple star system. This is when six stars are held together by gravity, and appear to be one star when seen from earth. The Castor system of stars is made up of Castor Aa, Ab, Be, Bb, Ca, and Cb. Stars Aa and Ab have colors ranging from that of Sirius a to Altair. (highlighted and circled on the H-R diagram to the right.)

How far away is Castor? Castor is 51.6 light years away From the sun.

Castor vs. Sol (Sun) Castor Sol Size: 2.15 / 1.7 M☉ *One M☉ is equal to the mass of the sun* Color: Mostly white Age: 200 (+/- 100) million years old. Temperature: 16,000 degrees F Size: 1.98892 × 1030 kilograms Color: Yellow Age: 4.5 billion years Temperature: 11,000 degrees F

Life cycle of Castor! Medium-mass Protostar Nebula Average Sized Star: This is the stage that Castor is in right now. Life cycle of Castor! Red giant Planetary Nebula White Dwarf

Gemini Castor is part of the constellation Gemini. When Ptolemy discovered Gemini, he thought that it looked like two people, or twin brothers. The brothers were named Castor and Pollux. In Greek mythology, the two brothers were good companions and became, as gods, patrons of athletes and protectors of sailors at sea. Castor and Pollux had power over winds and waves. See pictures on the next slide.

The constellation Gemini. Castor and Pollux near the ocean.

Works cited http://domeofthesky.com/clicks/castor.html http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/AstroBrief/chapter12/sunage.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_(star) http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/castor.html Grolier online encyclopedia Worldbook online encyclopedia Encyclopedia.com http://www.solstation.com/stars2/castor6.htm