![]() Her boast angered Poseidon, god of the sea, who sent a sea monster ( Cetus the Whale) to ravage the kingdom. It’s said that she committed the sin of pride by boasting that both she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than Nereids, or sea nymphs. In sky lore and in Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was a beautiful and vain queen of Ethiopia. Image via Harvard Map Collection/ Wikipedia. Upside-down Cassiopeia, as depicted on Mercator celestial globe in 1551. That’s when he used a Roman letter – the letter H – to name the other cluster. Then, it’s said, he ran out of Greek letters. Johann Bayer (1572-1625) gave Chi Persei – the cluster on the top – its Greek letter name. Stars have Greek letter names, but most star clusters don’t. Their names are from two different alphabets, the Greek and the Roman. These clusters have a unique set of mismatched names: H and Chi Persei. They are open star clusters, each of which consists of young stars still moving together from the primordial cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to them. If you have a dark sky, look across the border of Cassiopeia into Perseus the Hero for a famous binocular object. Every March, when the Dipper is ascending in the northeast, getting ready to appear prominently again in the evening sky, Cassiopeia is descending in the northwest. So when Cassiopeia is high in the sky, as it is on evenings from about September through February, the Big Dipper is low in the sky. That is, the two constellations lie on opposite sides of the pole star, Polaris. How to find CassiopeiaĬassiopeia is opposite the Big Dipper in the northern sky. Many observers use the arrow shape of Cassiopeia to point their way to the Andromeda galaxy. If you’re viewing Cassiopeia as the letter W, the stars, from left to right, are Segin, Ruchbah, Gamma Cassiopeiae, Schedar and Caph. Some describe these stars as outlining the chair – or throne – she sits upon. Treat yourself! The stars of CassiopeiaĬassiopeia is home to five bright stars that form the W shape. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar showing phases of the moon every night of the year. Now on sale! The 2023 EarthSky lunar calendar. and Canada, Cassiopeia is circumpolar, or above the horizon all night every night. She’ll be lower in the northwest as spring begins to unfold. Look for the Queen as your sky gets dark in February and March. Cassiopeia is one of the easiest constellations to spot because of its distinctive shape. On late northern winter evenings and throughout spring, Cassiopeia the Queen descends in her throne in the northwest after nightfall. Cassiopeia the Queen in late winter and early spring It’s the famous Double Cluster in Perseus. If you have a dark sky, you can also look above Cassiopeia for a famous binocular object. It’s one of the easiest constellations to spot! It has the shape of an M or W. You can find Cassiopeia the Queen in the northwest in the evening, around the month of February.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |