Auriga

Constellation of the northern hemisphere, represented as a charioteer. Its brightest star is the first-magnitude Capella, about 42 light years from the Sun; Epsilon Aurigae is an eclipsing binary star with a period of 27 years, the longest of its kind (last eclipse in 1983).

The charioteer is usually represented as a man holding a bridle in his right hand and supporting a goat and kids on his left arm. The goat is identified with Capella, whose name means ‘the Little Nanny Goat’, and the kids with the three adjacent stars, Epsilon, Eta, and Zeta Aurigae. The charioteer is also identified as Erichthonius, the legendary king of Athens who invented the four-horse chariot.