What Is Cassiopeia?
QUICK ANSWER
Cassiopeia is a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere named after a queen from Greek mythology. Five bright stars form its distinctive W shape (or M, depending on orientation). Cassiopeia is circumpolar from most northern latitudes, meaning it's visible year-round, and is one of the most easily recognized northern constellations.
Cassiopeia is one of the most easily recognized constellations in the Northern Hemisphere. Five bright stars form a distinctive W or M shape, depending on the season and orientation. The constellation is named for a Greek mythological queen who was punished for her vanity. Because Cassiopeia is opposite the Big Dipper across the north celestial pole, the two patterns rotate around Polaris through the night.
Where is Cassiopeia?
In the northern circumpolar region of the sky. Cassiopeia sits high in the northern sky from mid-northern latitudes. Like the Big Dipper, it's circumpolar from much of the Northern Hemisphere, meaning it never sets and is visible year-round. The two constellations sit on opposite sides of Polaris and rotate around it through the night. When the Big Dipper is low in the north, Cassiopeia is high overhead, and vice versa. Cassiopeia is best viewed in fall and winter when it's highest in the evening sky.
What's the W shape?
Five bright stars forming a distinctive zigzag. The W shape of Cassiopeia is formed by the constellation's five brightest stars: Schedar, Caph, Gamma Cassiopeiae, Ruchbah, and Segin. Depending on the time of year and the constellation's orientation in the sky, the pattern can look like a W, an M, or a sideways E. This adaptability and the brightness of the stars make Cassiopeia easy to identify from any northern latitude. The five stars are all relatively close in brightness, helping the pattern stand out.
Who was Cassiopeia in mythology?
A queen punished for her vanity. In Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was queen of Aethiopia and the mother of Andromeda. She bragged that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs), which angered Poseidon. He sent a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage her kingdom. To save the kingdom, Cassiopeia agreed to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster, but Andromeda was rescued by Perseus. As punishment for her vanity, Cassiopeia was placed in the sky tied to a chair, which rotates so she sometimes hangs upside down.
What's interesting about it astronomically?
It contains a famous historic supernova. In 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe observed a new bright star appear in Cassiopeia. Now called Tycho's Supernova or SN 1572, it remained visible for about 18 months and was crucial in changing Western views about an unchanging cosmos. The supernova remnant is still visible today through telescopes. Cassiopeia also contains the radio source Cassiopeia A, the brightest radio source in the sky outside our solar system, from a supernova that exploded around 1680 (though the light reached Earth without recorded notice).
Cassiopeia is a Northern Hemisphere constellation named after a Greek mythological queen punished for her vanity. Five bright stars form its distinctive W or M shape (depending on orientation). Cassiopeia is circumpolar from most northern latitudes, meaning it's visible year-round, and rotates opposite the Big Dipper around Polaris. The constellation contains Tycho's Supernova (1572), historically important for changing astronomical worldviews.
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