Visibility
Capella appears to be a rich yellow color. It is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, the sixth brightest star in the night sky, the third brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere (after Arcturus and Vega), and the fourth brightest star visible to the naked eye from the latitude 40° N. It is closer to the north celestial pole than any other first magnitude star (Polaris is only second magnitude). It lies a few degrees to the northeast from the triangle of stars known as "The Kids" (ε, ζ, and η Aurigae).
Capella's northern declination is such that it is actually invisible south of latitude 44°S – this includes southernmost New Zealand, Argentina and Chile as well as the Falkland Islands. Conversely it is circumpolar north of 44°north: for the whole of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, most of France, Canada and the northernmost United States, the star never sets.
Capella was the brightest star in the night sky from 210,000 years ago to 160,000 years ago, at about -1.8 in magnitude. At -1.1, Aldebaran was brightest before this period, and it and Capella were situated rather close to each other and served as boreal polestars at the time.
Read more about this topic: Capella (star)
Famous quotes containing the word visibility:
“My children have taught me things. Things I thought I knew. The most profound wisdom they have given me is a respect for human vulnerability. I have known that people are resilient, but I didn’t appreciate how fragile they are. Until children learn to hide their feelings, you read them in their faces, gestures, and postures. The sheer visibility of shyness, pain, and rejection let me recognize and remember them.”
—Shirley Nelson Garner (20th century)