37 Geminorum is a star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 located at the northwest part of the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Gemini

Gemini (constellation)

Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology...

. Its distance from our Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 is about 56.3 light years. It is a solitary, yellow-white main sequence dwarf. No extrasolar planets have yet been discovered around this star.

37 Geminorum has many physical properties in common with the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 and is one of the nearest solar twins. Due to this fact some scientists believe that the prospects for life in its vicinity are good. In September 2003, 37 Geminorum was identified by astrobiologist Margaret Turnbull

Margaret Turnbull

Margaret Carol Turnbull is an American astronomer. She received her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in 2004. Turnbull is an authority on "Habstars," solar twins and planetary habitability....

 from the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 in Tucson as one of the most promising nearby candidates for hosting life, based on her analysis of the HabCat

HabCat

The Catalog of Nearby Habitable Systems is a catalogue of star systems which conceivably have habitable planets. The list was developed by scientists Jill Tarter and Margaret Turnbull under the auspices of Project Phoenix, a part of SETI....

 list of stars.

There was a METI message sent to 37 Geminorum. It was transmitted from Eurasia

Eurasia

Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...

's largest radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

, 70-meter Yevpatoria Planetary Radar. The message was named the Teen Age Message

Teen Age Message

The Teen Age Message was a METI message, transmitted from the Yevpatoria Planetary Radar to 6 nearby Sun-like stars during August–September 2001. Unlike the previous digital-only Messages, Arecibo-1974 and Cosmic Call 1, the TAM has complex, three-section structure with different forms of...

, it was sent on September 3, 2001, and it will arrive at 37 Geminorum in December 2057.

External links

• Design studio «Geminorum» in St.Petersburg, Russia