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Podcast: StarDate
Episode: Grandfather
Description: A celestial grandfather strolls low across the south on winter evenings. He’s represented by two stars. In the western world, they’re part of the constellation Columba, the dove. But in ancient China they were known as the Grandfather.
The stars are Alpha and Epsilon Columbae. Coincidentally, they’re about the same distance from Earth – about 280 light-years. And both are much bigger and brighter than the Sun. But there’s a big difference in their ages, so the stars aren’t related.
Alpha – the First Star of Grandfather – is the brighter of the two – the brightest memb...