Cassiopeia constellation
Latin Cassiopeia, genitive Cassiopeiae, abbreviation Cas
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
Cassiopeia, the vain queen, mother of Andromeda. As punishment she sits on her throne in the sky and circles the pole, upside down for half the night. Her W of five stars stays above the horizon all year from Europe and much of North America, opposite the Big Dipper.
When can Cassiopeia be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in November. It can be seen from everywhere north of 20°S, and it never sets north of 33°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shedar | α Cas | 2.23 | orange |
| Caph | β Cas | 2.27 | yellowish white |
| Navi | γ Cas | 2.47 | bluish |
| Ruchbah | δ Cas | 2.68 | white |
| Segin | ε Cas | 3.38 | bluish |
| Achird | η Cas | 3.44 | yellowish white |
| Fulu | ζ Cas | 3.66 | bluish |
| – | 50 Cas | 3.98 | bluish |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).