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Epsilon Aurigae facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Epsilon Aurigae, also called Maaz or Almaaz, is a yellow supergiant star forming part of the Auriga constellation.

It is orbited by a binary star which is surrounded by a thick dusk cloud. The dust cloud only creates infrared light.

The dust cloud was originally thought to be the largest star known, before it was later revealed to not be a star. The largest star was later found to be VY Canis Majoris, and even later, Stephenson 2-18.

Another theory says that the dusk cloud could be a black hole, but this theory is no longer believed in.

Images for kids

  • Epsilon Aurigae eclipse light curve

    AAVSO light curve showing the 2009-11 eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae

  • Epsilon Aurigae

    Bright class F star and companion Class B star surrounded by a dusty disk (artist impression)

  • Epsilon Aurigae star system

    The ε Aurigae system during an eclipse (artist impression)

  • Epsaur-chart

    A comparison chart for ε Aurigae: the numbered stars are comparison stars with the numbers giving the comparison star brightness in magnitudes (conventionally without the decimal point, which might be confused with a star)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Almaaz para niños

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Epsilon Aurigae Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.