GEMINI (" The Twins," i.e.

See also:

• CASTOR

Castor and

See also:

• POLLUX, JULIUS
• POLLUX, or POLLUCITE

Pollux)  , in astronomy, the third sign in the zodiac, denoted by the symbol II . It is also a constellation, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th century B.C.) and Aratus (3rd century B.C.), and catalogued by Ptolemy, 25 stars, Tycho Brahe 25, and Hevelius 38 . By the Egyptians this constellation was symbolized as a couple of young kids; the Greeks altered this symbol to two children, variously said to be Castor and Pollux, Hercules and Apollo, or Triptolemus and Iasion; the Arabians used the symbol of a pair of peacocks . Interesting objects in this constellation are: a Geminorum or Castor, a very fine double star of magnitudes 2•o and 2.8, the fainter component is a spectroscopic binary; n Geminorum, a long period (231 days) variable, the extreme range in magnitude being 3.2 to 4; Geminorum, a short period variable, o.15 days, the extreme range in magnitude being 3.7 to 4.5; Nova Geminorum, a " new " star discovered in 1903 by H . H . Turner of Oxford; and the star cluster M.35 Geminorum, a fine and bright, but loose, cluster, with very little central condensation .