Auriga (constellation) "Makalii". The stars of Auriga feature in Inuit constellations. Quturjuuk, meaning "collar-bones", was a constellation that included Capella (Alpha Aurigae), Menkalinan (Beta Aurigae), Pollux (Beta Geminorum), and Castor (Alpha Geminorum). Its rising signalled that the constellation Aagjuuk, made up of Altair (Alpha Aquilae), Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae), and sometimes Alshain (Beta Aquilae), would rise soon. Aagjuuk, which represented the dawn following the winter solstice, was an incredibly important constellation in the Inuit mythos. It was also used for navigation and time-keeping at night. Alpha Aurigae (Capella), the brightest star in Auriga, is a G8III class star (G-type giant) 43 light-years away
Auriga (constellation) Aurigae (Menkalinan, Menkarlina) is a bright A2IV class star (A-type subgiant). Its Arabic name comes from the phrase "mankib dhu al-'inan", meaning "shoulder of the charioteer" and is a reference to Beta Aurigae's location in the constellation. Menkalinan is 81 light-years away and has a magnitude of 1.90. Like Epsilon Aurigae, it is an eclipsing binary star that varies in magnitude by 0.1. The two components are blue-white stars that have a period of 3.96 days. Its double nature was revealed spectroscopically in 1890 by Antonia Maury, making it the second spectroscopic binary discovered, and its variable nature was discovered