Auriga Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

During the 2nd century, in nearby Egypt, the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy described the constellation Auriga in his treatise known as the Almagest. He placed the 88 constellations known until then.

In Greek mythology, Auriga is associated with one of the most famous heroes known as "Erichthonius of Athens," the terr estres on Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths.

The story goes that he was raised by the goddess Athena. Erichthonius invents the chariot drawn by four horses during his youth, which he subsequently used in the battle against the usurper Amphictyon.

He has also associated with the invention of the Biga, a small two-wheeled carriage.

This event made Erichthonius king of Athens. Later, Zeus would place his image in the heroic sky, mounted on a Biga in honor of his ingenuity and feats.

The constellation Auriga was represented in two ways during the tenth to fifteenth centuries.

On the one hand, he used to be associated with the figure of Erichthonius riding on a 4-wheeled carriage pulled by four horses.

But in other remote regions of Greece, the rider of the Auriga was only associated with someone without a name. It was represented with an Auriga mounted on a Biga pulled by two horses.

In the end, the image that prevailed the longest was that of Auriga on a biga pulled by two horses.

Auriga remains one of the most important constellations in the northern hemisphere, and its boundaries have remained unchanged for centuries.

In scientific research, Auriga contains stellar groups that are of great interest in studying the evolution of stars.

More recently, it is known that several of its stars possess star systems with exoplanets that could be within the habitable zone, so it is highly preventable that they have water in a liquid state.

The constellation of Auriga resides in the first quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ1), at latitudes between +90° and -40°, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky in all countries of the Northern Hemisphere.

Auriga is visible in the USA, Europe, Russia, Asia, China, and Japan in the northern hemisphere.

In the southern hemisphere, Auriga is visible in all countries except Antarctica and regions below -40° such as south New Zealand, South Australia such as Tasmania, zonas south of Argentina such as El Mar Del Plata, and areas south of Chile.

Auriga is a constellation close to the north pole, so it is visible throughout the year to the northern hemisphere.

For the southern hemisphere countries, a part of the constellation ceases to be visible in winter. The best month to see the constellation of Auriga is in February.

To locate the constellation Auriga, you must look to the north of the celestial vault.

Auriga compares a star with the constellation Taurus; this star is Elnath, it is the third brightest in the constellation Auriga and is the horn of Taurus; you can use this star to find the rest of the constellation Auriga.

You can also trace an imaginary line from the constellation Gemini to Perseus; Auriga is located right in the middle of the two.

Auriga's related constellations are Camelopardalis, Gemini, Lynx, Perseus and Taurus.

In addition, Auriga belongs to the Perseus family of constellations; these include the constellations Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum.

Auriga has 152 stars officially, of which 11 form the central figure of the constellation; these stars are Capella, Menkalinan, Mahasim, Hassaleh, Almaaz, Haedus II, Prijipati, Haedus, Nu Aurigae, Tau Aurigae, and Upsilon Aurigae.

The brightest star in Auriga is Capella, with a magnitude of 0.71.

Cappella is a triple star system whose components are a spectral type star G8IIIe, a spectral type star G1III and a binary star made up of two red dwarfs.

Located 82 light-years away, Menkilinan is the second brightest star in Auriga.

It is a binary star system consisting of Menkalinan A and Menkalinan B, forming an eclipsing spectroscopic binary star.

Theta Aurigae is a binary star system with 173 light-years from our solar system. It is the third brightest star in Auriga.

It consists of Theta Aurigae A, a star of spectral type A0p, and Theta Aurigae B, spectral type G2V.

Auriga is also home to several deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects are celestial bodies different from stars, such as nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies) or galaxies.

In the case of Auriga, it contains some nebulae and star clusters. Some of them are:

The constellation Auriga has an associated meteor shower called "Alpha Aurigids."

The Alpha Aurigids meteor shower occurs between August 25 to September 6, and the peak of maximum observation occurs on September 1.

• Auriga is a constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name comes from ancient Greece and is the name of the people designated to ride the Biga, a small two-wheeled carriage pulled by horses.
• Although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, Auriga can be observed from all countries in the Southern Hemisphere, except Antarctica.
• The best month to see the constellation Auriga is in February.
• The brightest star in Auriga is Capella, with a magnitude of 0.71.
• The best way to locate the constellation Auriga is to draw an imaginary line from the constellation Gemini to the constellation Perseus; Auriga is located right in the middle of the two.
• The most notable star cluster within the borders of Auriga is the M36 cluster, which contains 60 stars.
• The strongest meteor shower in Auriga is the Alpha Aurigids.

1. https://www.space.com/auriga-constellation.html
2. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/auriga-constellation/
3. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-auriga.html
4. https://earthsky.org/constellations/closeup-on-auriga/