CASSIOPEIA (CONSTELLATION)

'Cassiopeia' (IPA: ) is a northern constellation which Greek mythology considered to represent a vain queen who boasted about her unrivaled beauty. It is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 listed by Ptolemy.

Contents

Notable features

Notable deep sky objects

See also

References

External links

Notable features

Cassiopeia contains two stars visible to the naked eye that rank among the most luminous in the galaxy: ρ Cas and V509 Cas. The star η Cas is a nearby (19.4 ly) binary star comprising a yellow Sun-like dwarf and an orange dwarf star.
If we were to observe Earth's Sun from Alpha Centauri, it would appear to be in Cassiopeia as a yellow-white 0.5 magnitude star. The famous "W" of Cassiopeia would become a zig-zag pattern with the Sun at the leftmost end, closest to ε Cas.
Cassiopeia looks like a W or a crown.

Notable deep sky objects

Two Messier objects, Messier 52 (NGC 7654) and Messier 103 (NGC 581) are located in Cassiopeia. Both are open clusters and being 7th magnitude objects they are easy targets with binoculars.

See also

★ Messier 52 open cluster

References

★ Infrared echoes near the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, Krause O, Rieke GH, Birkmann SM, Le Floc'h E, Gordon KD, Egami E, Bieging J, Hughes JP, Young ET, Hinz JL, Quanz SP, Hines DC, , , Science, 2005

★ Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). ''Collins Stars and Planets Guide'', HarperCollins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209.

External links

★ The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Cassiopeia

★ The clickable Cassiopeia

★ Traditional astrological talisman of Cassiopeia

★ 'WIKISKY.ORG:' Cassiopeia constellation

★ Star Tales – Cassiopeia