Home > Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing > Ephemeris: 01/27/2025 – Gemini the twins with Mars this year

Ephemeris: 01/27/2025 – Gemini the twins with Mars this year

January 27, 2025

This is Ephemeris for Monday, January 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 5:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Another famous winter constellation is Gemini. The constellation of Gemini the Twins is visible halfway to the zenith in the east, at the top and left of Orion the hunter, at 9 pm. The namesake stars of the two lads, are the two bright stars at the left end of Gemini, and are high and are due east. Castor is on top, while Pollux is below. From them come two lines of stars that outline the two, extending horizontally toward Orion. Mars is passing in front of the stars of Gemini during the first quarter of this year, reaching the western end of its retrograde loop and doubling back to the east. In Greek mythology the Gemini twins were half brothers, Castor was fathered by a mere mortal, while Pollux was fathered by Zeus, but were born together as twins. When Castor was killed during the quest for the Golden Fleece, Pollux pleaded with Zeus to let him die also, so Zeus placed them together in the sky.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The image of Gemini in four frames.
The image of Gemini in four frames. The first are the stars of the constellation Gemini with the planet Mars as it would be seen tonight, January 27th 2025. The second are the lines of the constellation as I see it, with the star names of Castor and Pollux and another star of the constellation. The third is Stellarium’s image of the twins against the stars. The fourth frame is the track of Mars against the stars of Gemini over the period of the three months January through March 2025 shown at 10 day intervals. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
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