Capella

star
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/place/Capella-star
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: Alpha Aurigae
Latin:
“She-Goat”
Also called:
Alpha Aurigae

Capella, sixth brightest star in the night sky and the brightest in the constellation Auriga, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.08. Capella is a spectroscopic binary comprising two G-type giant stars that orbit each other every 104 days. It lies 42.2 light-years from Earth.

(List of Brightest Stars as Seen from Earth)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.