The American Association of Amateur Astronomers
The Constellation Cassiopeia -
The Seated Queen
|
Mythology: Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia was the legendary queen of Ethiopia,
known throughout the land for her elegant beauty. Becoming increasingly
vain, Cassiopeia boasted that she was even more lovely than the Sea
Nymphs, goddesses of unmatched beauty who ruled over nature. Enraged by
Cassiopeia's false bragging, the Sea Nymph's begged the God of the Sea,
Poseidon, to punish the queen for her insults and conceit. Poseidon
became so angry with Cassiope3ia that he unleashed the horrible sea
monster, Cetus the Whale, and sent him to destroy the coast of
Cassiopeia's homeland. The Sea Nymphs also sought eternal punishment for
Cassiopeia, arranging for her to be placed in the heavens tied to a
chair. In the northern sky, Cassiopeia sits, forever circling the
celestial pole. |
The constellations of Cassiopeia and Cepheus are circumpolar
constellations which lie on or near to the Milky Way. As such, many open clusters are in this region, including
some of the finest in the whole sky. There are also large regions of nebulosity in this area. Some of these nebulous
regions are accessible with amateur instruments, but most of them are best seen in long exposure photographs. Planetary
nebulae and even some galaxies are even found in this interesting and rich region.
Click on image for enlarged view.
CASSIOPEIA
The constellation of Cassiopeia is a wonderful place to lose yourself on an Autumn night. It holds many objects
of interest for all instruments, binoculars to light buckets. As it lies along the Milky Way, open clusters abound.
Two of my favorite open clusters are in this constellation. There are also emission nebulae and a couple of galaxies.
The following list of objects is just a sampling of those inhabiting this region.
M-52 - This beautiful open cluster is about 12' in diameter, and is composed of relatively bright stars.
The cluster is relatively concentrated to the center, and is dominated by a bright red star, and is well detached
from the stellar background. It lies less than a degree away from NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, which is a target
for larger instruments.
M-103 - This is a relatively small open cluster, about 8' in diameter. It contains about 20 relatively bright
stars, and is loosely gathered. It is seen through the finder scope or binoculars as a slightly hazy patch.
NGC 185/147 These are both small and faint elliptical galaxies which are of some interest as they are
members of our Local Group. They appear to be distant satellites of the Great Andromeda Galaxy.
NGC 281 - This is a large emission nebula which is faintly seen in binoculars, but really needs aperture
to appreciate. Seen well with a UHC filter, it shows a rough triangle or kidney bean shape with a curving, comma
shaped appendage extending to the south. Dark patches here and there add interest to the view. This relatively
unknown object deserves closer scrutiny.
NGC 457 - The "Owl" Cluster. This fine cluster is composed of 75-100 bright stars which
form the shape of an owl with spread wings and the bright double star Phi Cas as its eyes. This cluster and its
distinctive shape are easily seen in binoculars.
NGC 663 - Lying very close to M-103, this fine open cluster is more impressive than that object. It is
somewhat resolved in binoculars, and is well detached from the background. It consists of 10-12 bright stars and
about 50 fainter stars, and is moderately concentrated to the center.
NGC 7788/90 - These two open clusters lie directly north of the previous object, and are easily fit into
the same field of view. While not as glitzy as the Double Cluster in Perseus, they do make a nice pair. 7788 is
about 4-5' in diameter and is composed of about 10-12 stars. 7790 is a bit larger and brighter. Well worth the
look.
NGC 7789 - One of my favorite objects, this cluster is about 15' in diameter and composed of hundreds
of stars. The stars are about 10-11 magnitude, but their numbers and compact size makes this open cluster resemble
a loosely gathered globular cluster. I consider this a real showpiece object.
Alpha Cassiopeiae - An easily split pair. The yellow primary is very bright compared to the faint blue
secondary.
Eta Cassiopeiae - This is a very pretty and easily split double star which shows a yellow-white primary
and a red-gold secondary. Check it out.
ADS 1 - A fine double star. It shows a yellow primary and an easily seen blue secondary.
Article © Copyright Rick Raasch
Photos © Copyright Edward P. Flaspoehler, Jr.
Messier Objects in Cassiopeia
|
Con
|
Messier
|
Type
|
R.A.
|
Dec.
|
Mag.
|
Size
|
NGC#
|
|
Cas
|
M52
|
Open Cluster
|
23h 24.2
|
61d 35
|
8.0
|
13.0'
|
7654
|
|
Cas
|
M103
|
Open Cluster
|
1h 33.2
|
60d 42
|
7.0
|
6.0'
|
581
|
Herschel 400 Objects in Cassiopeia
| NGC |
R.A. |
Dec. |
Mag |
Type |
Constellation |
Galactic Longitude |
Galactic Latitude |
Size |
Class |
|
129 |
0 29.9 |
60 14 |
10.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
120.26 |
-2.53 |
21.0' |
IV 2 p |
|
136 |
0 31.5 |
61 32 |
11.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
120.56 |
-1.25 |
1.2' |
II 2 p |
|
185 |
0 39.0 |
48 20 |
11.0 |
Gal |
Cas |
120.79 |
-14.48 |
12' X 10' |
dE0 |
|
225 |
0 43.4 |
61 47 |
9.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
121.99 |
-1.07 |
12.0' |
III 1 p n |
|
278 |
0 52.0 |
47 33 |
12.5 |
Gal |
Cas |
123.04 |
-15.32 |
2' X 2' |
E0p |
|
381 |
1 8.3 |
61 35 |
9.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
124.94 |
-1.22 |
6.0' |
III 2 p |
|
436 |
1 15.6 |
58 49 |
9.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
126.06 |
-3.91 |
6.0' |
I 3 m |
|
457 |
1 19.1 |
58 20 |
8.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
126.56 |
-4.35 |
13.0' |
I 3 r |
|
559 |
1 29.5 |
63 18 |
7.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
127.19 |
0.75 |
4.4' |
II 2 m |
|
637 |
1 42.9 |
64 0 |
7.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
128.55 |
1.69 |
3.5' |
I 3 p |
|
654 |
1 44.1 |
61 53 |
10.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
129.08 |
-0.36 |
5.0' |
II 3 m |
|
659 |
1 44.2 |
60 42 |
10.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
129.35 |
-1.51 |
5.0' |
III 1 p |
|
663 |
1 46.0 |
61 15 |
7.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
129.46 |
-0.94 |
16.0' |
III 2 m |
|
1027 |
2 42.7 |
61 33 |
7.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
135.78 |
1.48 |
20.0' |
III 2 p n |
|
7789 |
23 57.0 |
56 44 |
9.5 |
OCl |
Cas |
115.49 |
-5.35 |
16.0' |
II 1 r |
|
7790 |
23 58.4 |
61 13 |
7.0 |
OCl |
Cas |
116.59 |
-1.01 |
17.0' |
III 2 p |
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