Aries is one of the zodiac constellations that is actually quite unremarkable. Even the brightest stars are not very bright there, and you can only truly enjoy it if you have a telescope. But there is still a lot to tell about it.
Unremarkable Aries constellation
According to the ideas of astrologers, on March 21, the Sun entered the sign of Aries. However, it is enough to use any planetarium program to see that it is actually in Pisces and will not enter the constellation, which, judging by its name, should be similar to a ram, until April 19.
The reason for this is that astrologers use knowledge from 2000 years ago, and it has had time to become obsolete due to the phenomenon of precession of the Earth’s axis. You can read more about this in another article. By the way, the Aries constellation doesn’t really look like a ram either. There are many small stars, and the three brightest ones form something like a strongly elongated triangle.
The Aries constellation has been known since antiquity, and it got its name then as well. The ancient Greeks saw it as a golden ram that saved the lives of the two children of the Titanids Nephela, Phrixus and Helle, who were to be sacrificed.
The magical animal carried them to Colchis, where Phrixus, in gratitude for this, sacrificed her to Zeus, skinned her along with her golden fur, and she subsequently became known as the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts will then begin their journey to find him.
How to find the constellation Aries
Finding the constellation Aries in the sky is not easy. The best place to start is by looking for Aldebaran, also designated as α Tauri, and the nearby Pleiades cluster. If you continue this line further, you will find the three stars of the constellation Andromeda. Not far from them is the constellation Pisces. And between these three constellations is Aries. It is easiest to see the three brightest stars forming a very elongated triangle, almost a straight line parallel to Andromeda.
However, it is better to look for all this in the sky six months in advance. Because the fact that the Sun is close to Aries means that at night it is now not visible at all. In April it is possible to try to see this constellation only after the Sun has set above the horizon, and even this possibility will disappear very soon, and in two or three weeks, it will be impossible to observe it at all.
The brightest stars of Aries
There are no very conspicuous stars that could be compared to Aldebaran in the constellation. The brightest is Gamal, the α Aries, which is of second magnitude. It is an orange giant that is 65.9 light-years away from us. It is 2 times more massive than the Sun and has a radius 15 times larger.
It is the old star that is gradually moving toward shedding its shells and becoming a white dwarf, though it won’t happen soon. There is at least one planet in the system, a gas giant about 80% more massive than Jupiter. Its average distance from the star is 1.2 a.u. However, because Gamal’s luminosity is 91 times that of the sun, it should be extremely hot there.
The second brightest is β Aries, or Sheratan. It is a binary system located 59.9 light-years away from us. The main component of the system is a white star about twice the size of the Sun in both radius and mass.
Sheratan A forms a close binary system with a yellow star with a mass 6 and radius 12% larger than the Sun. These two luminaries orbit around a common center of mass in very elongated orbits in just 106 Earth days.
The third notable star in Aries is its Gamma, which has the proper name Mesartim or Mesarthim. It is known for the fact that both components are hot white stars, plus the larger one changes its brightness and has a powerful magnetic field. The masses of the stars are about 2.7 times the solar mass.
In addition, there is a study that shows that another luminary exists in a close orbit around the larger of the stars. It is believed to be a red dwarf with a mass of 70% of the solar mass. However, its existence has not been confirmed yet. Overall, the Mesartim system is 163 light years away from us and is very young. It is only 34 million years old.
Planetary systems
Although there are no really bright stars in the constellation Aries, it is interesting for another reason. Two exoplanet systems are located there at once, the distance to which is less than 15 light-years. However, you cannot see their luminaries with the naked eye because they are red dwarfs.
Teegarden’s star is only 12.5 light-years away. But its luminosity is about 1000 times less than the Sun’s, and its mass is only 9% of what our luminary has.
Despite all this, astronomers have already determined that there are at least three planets orbiting around Teegarden’s star. The first one is an Earth-like world with a mass that is 16% greater than Earth’s. The actual surface temperature is difficult to estimate due to the lack of atmospheric and hydrospheric data, but is expected to be something between Earth and Venus. The orbital period is just under 5 Earth days.
The second planet of Teegarden’s star orbits the star in 11 days. Conditions on it should resemble Mars with the only difference that it has 5% more mass than Earth. This means that it almost certainly has an atmosphere and hydrosphere that contribute to heat storage and make the climate more favorable for life.
The third planet of Teegarden’s star system was found in 2024. It is also Earth-like at 82%. Considering that it takes 26 days to make one orbit around the Sun, its climate should be even colder than that of Mars.
Another planetary system close to us is the TZ Arietis. This designation means that the star is variable. In this case, the continuous variability is due to the presence of scale spots. In addition, the star shows non-periodic flares of varying amplitude. This red dwarf is significantly brighter than Teegarden’s star. Its distance is 14.5 light-years.
In the last decade, scientists have reported the discovery of three different planets near TZ Arietis. But so far, only one remains confirmed. It represents a small, cold gas giant. Its mass is at least 21% of that of Jupiter, and it makes one orbit around the star in 771 days.
Meteor showers
The Aries constellation is also interesting because it contains the radiant sites of at least four meteor showers. The most conspicuous of them are the so-called Daytime Arietids. They are observed from May 22 to July 2. This is one of the most powerful meteor showers ever. During its maximum, the ZHR can reach 60.
However, there are other meteor showers besides it that are associated with the Aries constellation. Thus, Delta Arietids are observed from December 8, Autumn Arietids from September 7 to October 27, and Sigma Arietids from October 12 to 19.
