Sigma Geminorum [SEP] constellation
Sigma Geminorum
Sigma Geminorum (σ Gem) is a binary star system in the constellation Gemini, just to the northeast of Pollux. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.20. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 26.08 mas, it is located 125 light years from the Sun.
Sigma Geminorum is a single-lined spectroscopic binary, which means that the spectrum of only one of the components can be discerned. It is an RS Canum Venaticorum variable with a period of
the name for the whole constellation; the name means "Star-wreath" and refers to one of the wives of the Pleiades, called "Makalii".
The stars of Auriga feature in Inuit constellations. Quturjuuk, meaning "collar-bones", was a constellation that included Capella (Alpha Aurigae), Menkalinan (Beta Aurigae), Pollux (Beta Geminorum), and Castor (Alpha Geminorum). Its rising signalled that the constellation Aagjuuk, made up of Altair (Alpha Aquilae), Tarazed (Gamma