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Question
How many stars (in total) are in Gemini?
Hello,
Technically, your question is impossible to answer since you are referencing an area of the sky that contains differing numbers of stars, contingent on the stellar magnitude (e.g. brightness scale) used to enumerate them. Thus, there could be as many as a thousand or ten thousand or more, if one extends the magnitude limit to that of the existing optical telescopes - say +24 or more.
However, I am assuming you want the total as perhaps allowed or counted via a star catalog, and according to my Norton's Star Atlas (counting stars in Gemini down to magnitude +6) there are 104. Again, this is a "total" only relatively, down to a given threshold of brightness. That number will obviously increase radically as the brightness level is extended to much dimmer stars!
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Answers by Expert:
Philip Stahl
Expertise
I have forty years of experience in Astronomy, specifically solar and space physics. My specialties include the physics of solar flares, sunspots, including their effects on Earth and statistics as applied to astronomical investigations.
Experience
Astronomy: more than forty years experience starting with construction of my own simple telescopes. Worked at university observatory in college, doing astrographic measurements. M.Phil. degree in Physics/Solar Physics and more than ten years as researcher.
Organizations
American Astronomical Society (Solar Physics and Dynamical Astronomy divisions), American Mathematical Society, American Geophysical Union
Publications
Solar Physics (journal), The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, The Proceedings of the Meudon Solar Flare Workshop (1986), The Proceedings of the Caribbean Physics Conference (1985). Books: 'Selected Analyses in Solar Flare Plasma Dynamics', 'Physics Notes for Advanced Level'.
Education/Credentials
B.A. Astronomy, M. Phil. Physics
Awards and Honors
American Astronomical Society Studentship Award (1984), Barbados Government Award for Solar Research
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