Cassiopeia the Queen in autumn
Any late summer season night and all through northern autumn, Cassiopeia the Queen may be discovered ascending within the northeast after dusk. The form of this constellation makes Cassiopeia’s stars very noticeable. Cassiopeia seems just like the letter W (or M).
Search for the Queen beginning at dusk each September. She’ll be larger up within the northeast as autumn unfolds.
For these within the northern U.S. and Canada, Cassiopeia is circumpolar, that means above the horizon all night time lengthy.
Methods to see Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia represents an historical queen of Ethiopia. You continue to generally hear the previous title for this constellation: Cassiopeia’s Chair. And a few previous star maps depict the queen sitting on the chair, marked by 5 stars.
These stars – the brightest ones in Cassiopeia – are Schedar, Caph, Gamma Cassiopeiae, Ruchbah and Segin.
Across the midnight in the course of the autumn months, Cassiopeia swings above Polaris, the North Star.
Earlier than daybreak, look within the northwest.
Reverse the Large Dipper
Cassiopeia is reverse the Big Dipper within the northern sky.
That’s, the 2 constellations lie on reverse sides of the pole star, Polaris.
So when Cassiopeia is excessive within the sky, as it’s on evenings from about September by means of February, the Large Dipper is low within the sky. Each March, when the Dipper is ascending within the northeast, on the point of seem distinguished once more within the night sky, Cassiopeia may be seen descending within the northwest.
A information to deep-sky beauties
When you’ve got a dark sky, look beneath Cassiopeia within the northeast on these autumn evenings for the Double Cluster in Perseus.
These are two open star clusters, every of which consists of younger stars nonetheless transferring collectively from the primordial cloud of gasoline and dust that gave beginning to the cluster’s stars.
These clusters are familiarly recognized to stargazers as H and Chi Persei.
Stargazers smile once they peer at them by means of their binoculars, not solely as a result of they’re stunning, but additionally due to their names. They’re named from two completely different alphabets, the Greek and the Roman. Stars have Greek letter names, however most star clusters don’t. Johann Bayer (1572-1625) gave Chi Persei its Greek letter title.
Then, it’s stated, he ran out of Greek letters. That’s when he used a Roman letter – the letter H – to call the opposite cluster.
Lore of Cassiopeia
In skylore and in Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was a ravishing and useless queen of Ethiopia. It’s stated that she dedicated the sin of satisfaction by boasting that each she and her daughter Andromeda had been extra stunning than Nereids, or sea nymphs. Pridefulness, in mythology, isn’t clever.
Her boast angered Poseidon, god of the ocean, who despatched a sea monster (Cetus the Whale) to ravage the dominion. To pacify the monster, Cassiopeia’s daughter, Princess Andromeda, was left tied to a rock by the ocean. Cetus was about to devour her when Perseus the Hero occurred by on Pegasus, the Flying Horse.
Perseus rescued the princess, and all lived fortunately … and the gods had been happy, so all of those characters had been elevated to the heavens as stars.
However – due to her self-importance – Cassiopeia suffered an indignity. At some occasions of the night time or 12 months, this constellation has extra the form of the letter M, and you may think the Queen reclining on her starry throne. At different occasions of 12 months or night time – as within the wee hours between midnight and daybreak in February and March – Cassiopeia’s Chair dips beneath the celestial pole. After which this constellation seems to us on Earth extra just like the letter W.
It’s then that the Girl of the Chair, as she is usually referred to as, is claimed to hold on for expensive life. If Cassiopeia the Queen lets go, she is going to drop from the sky into the ocean beneath, the place the Nereids should nonetheless be ready.
Backside line: Cassiopeia the Queen is an easy-to-find constellation. It has the form of a W or M. Look within the north-northeast sky on September and October evenings.
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