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
Capella the charioteer is carrying. In Bayer's 1603 work "Uranometria", Capella marks the charioteer's back. The three "Haedi" had been identified as a separate constellation by Pliny the Elder and Manilius, and were called "Capra", "Caper", or "Hircus", all of which relate to its status as the "goat star". Ptolemy merged the Charioteer and the Goats in the 2nd century Almagest. In Greek mythology, the star represented the goat Amalthea that suckled Zeus. It was this goat whose horn, after accidentally being broken off by Zeus, was transformed into the Cornucopia, or "horn of plenty", which would be filled with whatever