Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (or in Greek, Polydeuces) were twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. In Latin the twins are also known as the Gemini (literally "twins")
Pollux b Pollux b Pollux b, also designated Beta Geminorum b (abbreviated β Geminorum b, β Gem b) and HD 62509 b, later named Thestias, is an extrasolar planet approximately 34 light-years away in the constellation of Gemini (the Twins). This planet was discovered orbiting the star Pollux in 2006 by astronomer Artie P. Hatzes, confirming his hypothesis originally published in 1993. The planet has a comparable mass to the gas giants in the Solar System. It moves around Pollux in 1.61 years at a distance of 1.64 AU in a nearly circular orbit. In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched