hi Unmoved,the usual orb for fixed star conjunctions is 1 degree.
some use an orb of 2 degrees for Sirius which is the brightest of them all.
an orb of 1 degree,15 minutes could be used for 1st magnitude stars including especially stars like the 4 royal stars (Aldebaran,Regulus,Antares,Fomalhaut). Some astrologers give a wider orb for stars that involve the Sun and Moon.
in the declinations, stars are given an orb of no more than 10 minutes of arc.
In the old says, stars were seen as very fatalistic. This was before the discoveries of the outerplanets. They were viewed as being quite extreme in their effects.
Fewer stars were used,and so major,important stars were given considerably larger orbs
http://www.constellationsofwords.com/categories/Introd.html
http://www.astrologycom.com/fixedstars.html
Raymond
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"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"
- Eckhart Tolle