Close-up of Castor and Pollux showing the contrast in colors. In
March, Gemini - "The Twins" - is high in the sky in the early
evening. On closer inspection, the twins, Castor and Pollux, are
not identical. Castor is much hotter than Pollux and as a result
the color of castor is quite blue, whereas Pollux is a yellowish
tint. These colors are captured with a digital camera aimed at
the constellation. No telescope is Saturn is very prominent in
Gemini this season. The Physical Science class has measured the
apparent motion of Saturn throughout December, January, and
February and observed that Saturn has been moving westward
throughout the season. The December 25 location is indicated.
fainter star Zeta Geminorum is an interesting star in that it
varies in brightness with a cycle of 10.2 days. During the past
6 weeks I have been photographing Zeta Geminorum with the
digital camera without a telescope. Here is a graph of the
brightness of Zeta as a function of the fraction of a cycle. The
brightness is measured