Auriga (constellation) horizon. A large constellation, with an area of 657 square degrees, it is half the size of the largest constellation, Hydra. Its brightest star, Capella, is an unusual multiple star system among the brightest stars in the night sky. Beta Aurigae is an interesting variable star in the constellation; Epsilon Aurigae, a nearby eclipsing binary with an unusually long period, has been studied intensively. Because of its position near the winter Milky Way, Auriga has many bright open clusters in its borders, including M36, M37, and M38, popular targets for amateur astronomers. In addition, it has one prominent nebula, the
Columba (constellation) from Earth. Columba is the constellation at the solar antapex - the Earth (and Sun) is moving away from its direction as the solar system moves through space. The constellation contains the runaway star μ Columbae, which was probably expelled from the ι Orionis system. Exoplanet NGTS-1b and its star NGTS-1 are in Columba. There is one globular cluster in Columba, 7th-magnitude NGC 1851. It is 39,000 light-years from Earth and is resolvable in medium-sized amateur telescopes.<br> NGC 1792 is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 10.2. NGC 1808 is a Seyfert galaxy of magnitude 10.8. Columba (Chinese astronomy) Columba (constellation)