Cassiopeia is a constellation located in the northern hemisphere of our sky. Interestingly, only a fraction of its stars belong to the Milky Way galaxy.
First observations and legends
The modern name for this cluster of stars was given by the ancient Greeks. The ancients believed that this was the wife of the king of Ethiopia, Cepheus, and the mother of Andromeda Cassiopeia, ascended to heaven. The constellation was presented to the inhabitants of Greece as the embodiment of her beauty and incredible boasting, for which she was placed in heaven. According to legend, this
The queen once boasted that both she and her daughter were more beautiful than Nereids. The Nereids complained to Poseidon about such impudence, after which he sent a sea monster to Ethiopia, which devoured people and a flood in the appendage. Apollodorus wrote that the oracle told Cepheus the way to salvation. The latter had to sacrifice his own beautiful daughter, Andromeda, to the monster. Cassiopeia opposed such a decision, but the people of Ethiopia forced the royal family to do this in order to save all the inhabitants of the country. Andromeda was given to the monster to be devoured as an atoning sacrifice. She was chained, naked, to the foot of a cliff by the sea. At that moment, Perseus flew over the country onhis winged horse Pegasus. He saved the girl, beheaded the monster and took her as his wife. However, the girl had previously been promised as a wife to Phineus, who was the brother of Cepheus. The result was a battle
between the supporters of Phineus and Perseus, as a result of which many opponents from both sides were killed. Subsequently, all the characters of this legend found their place in the starry sky
First scientific observations
Serious study of the cluster began already in modern times. So, in 1572, the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe noticed the sudden appearance of a new star. This star in the constellation Cassiopeia was extremely bright at first. However, over the course of sixteen months, her light gradually weakened until it disappeared altogether. At the time of the Danish astronomer, this phenomenon was not yet known, but he observed a supernova explosion, which was formed as a result of the explosion. By the way, to this day, this explosion in the cluster is the last supernova from the Milky Way that man has ever observed.
Constellation information
There are 76 stars visible to the naked eye in the cluster. The constellation Cassiopeia (photo on the right) has an asterism that is called the "W - asterism", since the five brightest stars in the cluster create a figure that resembles the corresponding letter. Each of the stars of this asterism has its own name: Navi, Shedar, Kaf, Rukbah, Segin. It is possible to observe Cassiopeia all year round, but mosta good time for this is in September, October and November, when it is visible as clearly as possible. Cassiopeia is a constellation that is also closely surrounded by other clusters: Giraffe, Cepheus, Lizard, Andromeda, Perseus. But, despite this, finding it is quite simple: for this you need to mentally draw a straight line from the brightest star Ursa Major through the North Star. The continuation of this straight line will be Cassiopeia. The constellation is clearly visible on the territory of Russia.
