Queen Cassiopeia
Constellation Of A Vain Woman
The Cassiopeia constellation represents the queen of
Ethiopia, a mythological land of Greek lore, not
the country in Africa.
Cassiopeia is the wife of
King Cepheus
, and the mother of the beautiful Princess
Andromeda.
She was a vain, boastful woman who claimed
to be prettier than the Nerieds, the beautiful
sea nymphs.
This angered the sea god Poseidon(Neptune), who
sent the sea monster Cetus to destroy the queen's
land.
The king and queen were told the only way to save
the kingdom was to sacrifice their daughter Andromeda.
Andromeda was left chained to a rock near the
coast for Cetus but, before the monster could
ravage her, she was saved by
Perseus.
As punishment Cassiopeia was chained to her throne
and placed in the sky by Poseidon, where she spends
half of her time hanging upside down.
Visiting The Queen's Throne
Right Ascension: 1 hour
Declination: 60 degrees
Visible between latitudes 90 and -20 degrees
Best seen in November (at 9:00 PM)
Named Stars:
SHEDIR (Alpha Cas)
Caph (Beta Cas)
Ruchbah (Delta Cas)
Segin (Epsilon Cas)
Achird (Eta Cas)
Marfak (Theta Cas)
Marfak (Mu Cas)
Two open clusters are visible in binoculars within the
constellation.
These are M52 and M103. Both are of apparent 7th magnitude,
and quite easy to view.
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