Pollux Beta

Pollux, also cataloged as Beta Geminorum (β Gem / β Geminorum),is an orange giant star approximately 34 light-years away in the constellation of Gemini (the Twins). Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation (brighter than Castor (Alpha Geminorum). As of 2006, Pollux was confirmed to have an extrasolar planet orbiting it. Announced on June 16, 2006, the confirmation of the suspected extrasolar planet Pollux b was finally detected. Assuming that Pollux has more mass than the Sun, Pollux b has been calculated to have a minimum mass of 2.3 times that of Jupiter. The planet orbits Pollux at an average distance of 1.64 astronomical units in an almost circular orbit that takes approximately 590 days to complete. Pollux b is currently one of the few planets to be orbiting