For information on the nova's current brightness, pay a visit to the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) website. Good thing we can watch it happen from a safe distance. Derivatives: farm, fermata (in music the prolongation of a tone, chord), firm, firm, firmament. The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century, along with other constellations in the Perseus family (except Lacerta). Nicknamed the W constellation, Cassiopeia is easily recognizable for the prominent W asterism formed by its five brightest stars. It was named after Cassiopeia, the vain and boastful queen in Greek mythology. Cassiopeia was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Cassiopeia is a large constellation located in the northern sky. It is the 25th largest constellation in the night sky and is best seen during the month of November. Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. The word ‘ throne ‘ comes from the Indo-European root dher ‘To hold firmly, support’. Finding Cassiopeia: Cassiopeia constellation is located in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ1) and is visible at latitudes between +90° and -20°. While they didnt do something like make her eternally push a rock up a hill. The constellation is often referred to as Cassiopeia’s throne because the stars clearly outline the chair, or throne, upon which the queen sits. There were times when the Greek gods agreed. Its said that revenge is a dish best served cold.

But the gods had one last bit of revenge left for Cassiopeia when they elevated her to the skies as a constellation. The blast brightens the star system some 50,000 to 100,00 times as the material gets shot into space at speeds of several million miles an hour. Cassiopeias humiliation is evident for all to see. Like water going down a bathtub drain, the material spirals its way to the dwarf's surface, where it's heated and compacted by gravity until the hydrogen fuses and releases energy in an enormous explosion, much like a thermonuclear bomb. The material forms an accretion disk around the dwarf before spiraling down to the surface where it's compressed and ignites in a thermonuclear blast.Ī nova occurs when a small but incredibly dense white dwarf strips hydrogen gas from its sun-like companion. In 1572, a supernova called Tychos Star, or SN 1572, was seen in Cassiopeia by many people. It has two very bright stars called Cas and V509 Cas. It was named after a queen in Greek mythology called Cassiopeia.It looks like a letter W or M, with five bright stars that make the W or the M shape. This is how the constellation took its name, resembling the torture chair that was used for Cassiopeia's punishment.In this artist view, a white dwarf (left) robs gas from its companion star. Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky. Unhappy that Cassiopeia was not punished, Poseidon tied her to a chair in the heavens, so that she would revolve upside down half of the time.

However, Perseus managed to save her and kill the beast he then married Andromeda. Consulting an oracle, Cepheus and Cassiopeia had to sacrifice Andromeda in order to appease the wrath of Poseidon they chained her daughter to a rock next to the sea as a sacrifice to Cetus. According to other sources, he did not send a monster, but caused the lands to flood. As a result, Poseidon was infuriated and sent the sea monster Cetus to plague the coasts of Aethiopia. Very beautiful and vain, she committed hubris by saying that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful that the daughters of the sea god Nereus, called the Nereids. However, one is prevalent in the myths of ancient Greeks.Ĭassiopeia, the queen of Aethiopia, was the wife of King Cepheus, daughter of Coronus and Zeuxo. Cassiopeia or Cassiepeia is the name given to several characters in Greek mythology.

Cassiopeia the constellation