You might forgive Pollux if it feels disrespected. It’s the brightest star of Gemini – twice as bright as Castor, its “twin.” But the designation that’s most often used by astronomers is Beta Geminorum. And the Greek letter “Beta” usually is applied to a constellation’s runner-up.

That naming system was created by German astronomer Johann Bayer, in 1603. He used the Greek alphabet to name most of the stars in a constellation. Usually, the brightest star was given the first letter, Alpha. The next-brightest was Beta, and so on.

But in some cases, Bayer switched things up. He labeled the stars based on their location in the constellation’s classical outline, or on some other category. So for Gemini, Pollux became the “Beta” star even though it’s clearly brighter than “Alpha.”

Pollux really is an impressive star. It’s moved into the red-giant phase of life. In fact, it’s the closest red giant to the Sun, at a distance of just 34 light-years.

It’s puffed up to about nine times the diameter of the Sun, so it shines almost 40 times brighter than the Sun. And it has a distinctively orange tint – a beautiful look for an impressive star.

Pollux and Castor line up to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall this evening. Pollux is closer to the Moon. The planet Jupiter is farther to the upper right of the Moon. Jupiter outshines all the true stars in the night sky – even the brightest light of Gemini.

Script by Damond Benningfield