Delta Geminorum has one claim to fame. It was just half a degree from Pluto when the little world was discovered, in 1930. Pluto has moved a third of the way around the sky since then. But Delta Gem has stayed put. It\u2019s the seventh-brightest star in Gemini. It connects the body and legs of one of the twins.
\nThe star is also known as Wasat. The name comes from Arabic, and means \u201cmiddle.\u201d But no one knows what middle is represented.
\nDelta Gem is a system of at least three stars. Two of them form a tight pair. But the third is far away \u2013 more than a hundred times the distance from Earth to the Sun. At that rate, the star takes about 1200 years to orbit the other two.
\nThe system\u2019s main star is a subgiant. That means it\u2019s burned through most of the hydrogen in its core. It\u2019s making the transition to the next phase of life: a giant. It\u2019s already bigger than the Sun, but it\u2019ll get even bigger over the next few million years. It\u2019ll shine hundreds of times brighter than it does now, making it Gemini\u2019s brightest star.
\nAnd it\u2019ll get brighter for another reason as well. Today, it\u2019s about 60 light-years away. A million years from now, though, it should pass within about seven light-years of Earth \u2013 making it one of the brightest stars in all the night sky.
\nDelta Gem is low in the east-northeast at nightfall, to the right of Gemini\u2019s current leading light, Pollux. They soar high overhead later on, and remain in view all night.
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Script by Damond Benningfield
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