Capella facts for kids
Capella (which means "little goat") is a super bright star system that you can see in the night sky! It's the brightest star in the constellation called Auriga, which looks a bit like a wagon driver. Capella is the eleventh brightest star we can see from Earth and the third brightest in the northern part of the sky, after Arcturus and Vega.
Even though it looks like just one star when you gaze up, Capella is actually made up of four stars! These four stars are grouped into two pairs, with each pair orbiting around each other.
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What Makes Up Capella?
Capella is a fascinating star system because it has two main parts, each with two stars.
The Bright Main Pair
The first pair of stars in Capella are two very bright and large "giant stars." They are both similar to our Sun, but much bigger! Each of these stars is about 10 times wider than our Sun. They are very close to each other and orbit around a shared center. Scientists think these two giant stars are slowly cooling down and getting bigger, on their way to becoming even larger stars called red giants.
The Fainter Second Pair
The second pair of stars in the Capella system is quite different. These two stars are much smaller and not as bright. They are called "red dwarfs." They are also much farther away from the first pair, about 10,000 astronomical units away. An astronomical unit is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, so that's a really long way!
How Far Away is Capella?
The Capella star system is not too far from Earth, in space terms. It's about 42.2 light-years away. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, which is a huge distance! So, when you see Capella, you are actually seeing light that left the star system over 42 years ago.
Part of a Star Group
Capella is also part of something called the Hyades moving group. This is a collection of stars that are all traveling through space in the same direction. They are like a cosmic family moving together, even though they are spread out across a large area. The Hyades moving group is named after the Hyades cluster, which is another group of stars.
Images for kids
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Capella is the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga (upper left).
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Building J (foreground) at Monte Albán
See also
In Spanish: Capella para niños
