(lat. Cassiopeia), a non-setting constellation in the northern hemisphere of the sky. brightest stars Cassiopeia(from 2.2 to 3.4 magnitude) form a figure similar to the letter "M" in December and the letter "W" in June. The constellation occupies an area of ​​598.4 square degrees in the sky and contains 150 stars visible to the naked eye; of which 90 stars are brighter than 6m. Most of the constellation lies in the band of the Milky Way and contains many open star clusters.

click on the image to enlarge it

W-asterism

The constellation Cassiopeia includes an asterism that forms its memorable shape - the W-asterism. It consists of the brightest stars of the constellation, ε (Seguin), δ (Rukbach), γ (Navi), α (Shedar) and β (Kaf), forming a figure resembling the Latin letter "W".

Stars

The brightest stars ε (Segin), δ (Rukbakh), γ (Navi), α (Shedar) and β (Kaf), forming the W figure, have magnitude 3.4, respectively; 2.7; 2.4; 2.2 and 2.3 visual magnitudes.

An unusual variable star is γ Cassiopeiae. It is a nova-like star whose brightness varies from 1.6m to 3m.

Otherwise behaves ρ Cassiopeia, which belongs to the class of supergiant stars (it is 40 times heavier and about 500,000 times brighter than the Sun). Most of the time its brightness is unchanged and close to 4m. But sometimes the brightness drops to 6.2m, and then the ρ of Cassiopeia becomes inaccessible to the naked eye. The reason for the change in brightness is the emission of gas into space by the star, which leads to a weakening of its apparent brightness.

ε Cassiopeiae is a double star. The main star (3.7m) is a yellowish giant, the companion (7.4m) is a small red cold star with a surface temperature close to 3000 K. Both stars revolve around a common center of gravity with a period of 526 years. They are relatively close to the Sun - at a distance of 20 light years.

The yellow dwarf star μ (5.3m) is notable for its very fast movement. Every second it moves away from us by almost 100 km and at the same time it is shifting in the transverse direction. In a millennium, μ Cas travels a distance in the sky equal to twice the apparent diameter of the lunar disk. For the first time, μ Cas was listed in the star catalogs by Tycho Brahe.

Pictured - painting - The king of Ethiopia Cepheus and the Cassiopeia queen thank Perseus for freeing their daughter Andromeda, La Délivrance d'Andromède (1679) Pierre Mignard, Louvre

The constellation Cassiopeia report for grade 2, summarized in this article, will tell you about the constellation located in the northern hemisphere.

The story of the constellation Cassiopeia

This constellation was first mapped in the 2nd century by an astronomer. He was named after the queen of the mythical kingdom of Ethiopia. In the Middle Hemisphere at mid-latitudes, Cassiopeia can be observed all year round, with especially clear visibility from autumn to the end of winter.

History of the constellation Cassiopeia

The legend of its creation goes back to Ancient Greece. Queen Cassiopeia once greatly offended the sea nymphs - Nereids, showing off her beauty to them. For vanity in relation to the nymphs, the god of the seas Poseidon turned her into a constellation. And even more: he put the queen in a basket and "sentenced" to eternal rotation around the pole, and at a certain period of time Cassiopeia's basket turns upside down. Then the queen, seized with horror, began to have a severe headache. This is how Poseidon punished the vain woman.

The astronomer Claudius Ptolemy took pity on Cassiopeia and in his atlas he turned the basket into a royal throne. Since then, the queen has been easy to see in the sky - her 5 bright stars resemble the Latin letter "W".

The brightest celestial objects in the constellation Cassiopeia

• Beta or Kaf is a yellow-white giant, which is 2 times larger than the Sun and 28 times brighter than it.
• Alpha or Shedar is an orange giant.
• Gamma or Whip is the central star of the constellation. It spins fast enough to contribute to mass loss.
• Delta or Elbow is a double star.
• Epsilon is a blue-white giant.
• Rho and V509 are the brightest visible stars in Cassiopeia that can be seen without a telescope.
• Tycho's Star is a supernova that was discovered in 1572. This is the largest source of radio emission observed outside the solar system.
• IC 10 is an irregular galaxy discovered in 1887 by Lewis Swift. It is the only star-forming galaxy in our system.

We hope that the story about the constellation Cassiopeia for children helped you prepare for the lesson. And you can supplement the message about the constellation Cassiopeia through the comment form below.

Never goes beyond the horizon and one of the 88 letters of the heavenly alphabet is the letter “W”. This is Queen Cassiopeia.

You can observe the constellation Cassiopeia at the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere all year round, but the best conditions for its observations come with the onset of autumn, when the constellation rises high above your head and practically rests on the zenith, this period continues until the end of winter.

The main stars of the constellation

The characteristic and so recognizable silhouette of Cassiopeia, in the form of the Latin letter “W”, is formed by the brightest stars of the constellation: α, β, γ, δ and ε Cas. They have almost the same magnitude, which varies from 2 to 3m.

Shedar or Alpha Cassiopeia

The brightest star in Cassiopeia is α Cas or Shedar, which has a magnitude of 2.2. Navi, γ Cas, is a variable star that changes its brightness from 1.6 to 3 magnitudes in about 50 years.

Deep space objects and their descriptions

The constellation Cassiopeia is almost entirely immersed in the so-called. the summer Milky Way, which already indicates that this constellation can be very rich in objects of deep space. Indeed, in Cassiopeia there are more than two dozen wonderful open star clusters, therefore the main tool for us today will be powerful astronomical binoculars, or a fast refractor with an aperture of at least 100 mm and a wide field of view.

Almost all of these objects can be observed even with the most ordinary 7x35 field glasses. Having made a jog across the region of the sky that asterism “W” occupies it, many of these clusters will, of course, alternately fall into the field of view of the binocular. Some of them are immediately evident, while others, on the contrary, due to the small number of stars in them, are not the first time even with a map. It is curious that Charles Messier, among such an abundance of objects, included only two in his catalog. Now they are listed there under the numbers M52 and M103. We will dwell on them in more detail.

Open cluster M52

If we visually continue the segment formed by the stars α and β Cas at an equal distance to the North-West, then we will see the open cluster M52. In medium binoculars, it looks like a bright, sparkling-foggy, almost round spot, against which a dozen stars shine, they form two noticeable chains. One of them looks like an inverted “U”, the other looks like a “V”.

M52 observations

When viewed through a telescope, this is a fairly bright open cluster, in which one can count under two dozen stars in the search eyepiece, again, fitting into the outlines of the letters “U” and “V” (a kind of star swarm against the background of a sparkling fog of unresolved luminaries), Yugo - The western tip of which is crowned by a bright star, the approximate brightness of which is 7 - 8 magnitudes. When the magnification rises to 40-50x, a spot slightly compressed from the North-East becomes noticeable, against which a considerable number (more than two dozen) of stars flickers, the brightness of which fades as it approaches the periphery.

The greatest impressions of observations of M52 can be obtained using a 5 - 6 "(125 - 150 mm) high-aperture telescope at medium magnifications. Then the cluster is already fully resolved into stars, is deprived of “star dust” and presents the observer with fifty wonderful white luminaries.

M103

In the neighborhood of Rukba (δ Cassiopeia), approximately one degree East-North-East from it, we will find the last object in this constellation discovered by C. Messier. At one time, it was also the final one in his catalog (the rest of the objects, up to M110, were added already in the 20th century from Messier's unpublished notes). By the discoverer astronomer himself, this object was signed rather trivially as a “cluster of stars”, which, in fact, by no means fully characterizes this excellent “star abode”.

M103 observations

Even in a small commander's binoculars 7x35, you can find a small cloud of sparkling star dust, in which, if you firmly install the same tool, you can notice a characteristic asterism that has nothing to do with the cluster, but is the most noticeable part of it for small binoculars. This is a multiple star of Struve 131, the components of which are arranged in such a way that the whole intricate pattern resembles an arrowhead, where the brightest star crowns its tip.

For an observer with a telescope, the M103 cluster has a special, shall we say, charm. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that open clusters are best observed at fairly low magnifications, for M103 it should be raised, but no more than 50x. At 40x (which is optimal), it is interesting to count the stars “dropped out” of the sparkling background (in this case, their number exceeds fifty). It is also very interesting to guess the horseshoe-shaped asterism in the stellar weaves - a star chain in the center of the cluster, due to which it is sometimes called the Horseshoe. In fact, it is located in the Southwestern part of M103.

Clusters NGC 654, 659 and 663

Open clusters NGC 663 (middle left), NGC 659 (bottom left), NGC 654 (top left) and Messier 103 (right and below center).

Less than two degrees along the extension of the line δ Cas - M103 to East-North-East, easily placed in one field of view, there are three adjacent open clusters: NGC 654, NGC 659 and NGC 663. Together they form an isosceles obtuse triangle in the sky , giving the observer the opportunity to compare them with each other. NGC 654 is a small, star-poor cluster; you can count no more than a dozen stars of 8-9 magnitudes in it. NGC 659 also does not shine with beauty, but their neighbor in the sky - NGC 663 is a noteworthy object.

Observations of NGC 663

So, in a search eyepiece in a small aperture refractor or powerful astronomical binoculars, you can count a little more than two dozen stars in it, shrouded in an unresolved sparkling fog. As the increase increases, you can also find about half a dozen luminaries added to the rest of the swarm. It should be noted a certain feature that is not immediately evident, namely, the unresolved mass of the cluster is located directly in its center, while the periphery consists of almost entirely resolved luminaries. This feature, oddly enough, appears only when observed through small telescopes, in other cases it is not so noticeable.

Other clusters in Cassiopeia

Let's go from beginning to end along the "W"-shaped part of Cassiopeia, stopping at objects such as NGC 457, which is northeast of δ Cassiopeia, or NGC 225 due east of γ.

Nebula VdB 4 and NGC 225

The reflection nebula VdB 4 associated with the open star cluster NGC 225 is also known as the Sailboat or Broken Heart.

NGC 457 - open cluster

Let's not leave without attention two such large objects, like NGC 129 and NGC 281, which have almost 6th magnitude. NGC 281 is also referred to as the Pac-Man Nebula.

NGC 281 is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia

But let's focus more specifically on NGC 7789.

You can also find it by advancing one field of view in the direction of the West from Shedar. There, exactly between the two stars ρ and σ Cas, it will be located. This is a fairly bright open cluster of magnitude 6.7, which can be observed with absolutely any optical instrument, whether it be a spyglass or a 10-inch or more telescope.

Observations of NGC 7789

In 10x50 binoculars it can be seen as a rather large sparkling foggy spot, in the northwestern part of which a young star of 7-8th magnitude shines, having a bluish tint. In large astronomical binoculars, of which the 15x70 is a classic example, the cluster looks very different. Among the flickering haze of unresolved luminaries, brighter stars break through, the number of which exceeds one dozen. The situation is the same with a 100 mm high-aperture wide-angle refractor; it is possible that the number of resolved stars in this case increases to two dozen.

Naturally, owners of more powerful optics can count on the full resolution of the “stellar haze” already in 120-150 mm telescopes. At the same time, hundreds of individual luminaries are visible in the cluster, which fit into intricate weaves and chains, with a darker, starless zone becoming visible in the center, which gives the image of the cluster some kind of dynamism.

Bubble Nebula

Now let's return to the previously observed cluster M52. To the South-West of it, at about 0.60, you can see a characteristic figure of four stars, which resembles two adjacent triangles, which is crowned by the brightest star here, the magnitude of which is approximately 6.5m, the other three have from 7-8th magnitude .

Near the star, which indicates the less bright top of the adjacent side, is one of the most interesting nebulae - the Bubble Nebula or NGC 7635. This is not the brightest object, but its brightness, which will be 11m, makes it possible to identify it even in a 70 - 80 mm telescope. Then the nebula looks like a kind of "offshoot" that is separated from that star and shrouded in a subtle glow.

A kaleidoscope of colors in the Bubble Nebula

It is much easier to notice the glow itself with powerful binoculars, which give a more generalized picture. As such, a “bubble” in a small telescope will most likely not be seen. The minimum aperture needed to discern the slightly elongated shape of a portion of the nebula's shell is over 8" (200 mm).

Visualization of the spatial structure of the nebula

Asterism Hrr12

For the sake of interest, let's move our gaze a little higher (towards the North). There is a curious asterism here, nothing more than a random string of stars that are not physically connected in any way. It is cataloged as Hrr12. Its intricate pattern consists of stars of the 6th - 7th magnitude and resembles a small ladle, facing south with a straight three-star handle.

Eastern objects in Cassiopeia

If, armed with binoculars, we go down a little to the south of the star δ Cas and move to the North-East in the direction of the segment δ - ε Cas, then in a wide field of view such open clusters and nebulae as Stock2, Mrk6, IC 1805, NGC 1027, IC 1848, Cr33 and Cr34.

Cassiopeia (lat. Cassiopeia) is a constellation in the northern hemisphere of the sky.

• The brightest stars of Cassiopeia (from 2.2 to 3.4 magnitudes) form a figure similar to the letters "M" or "W".
• The constellation occupies an area of ​​598.4 square degrees in the sky and contains about 150 stars visible to the naked eye; of which 90 stars are brighter than 6m.
• Most of the constellation lies in the band of the Milky Way and contains many open star clusters.

The constellation Cassiopeia is almost entirely immersed in the so-called summer Milky Way, which already indicates that this constellation can be very rich in objects of deep space.

Indeed, in Cassiopeia there are more than two dozen wonderful open star clusters, therefore the main tool for us today will be powerful astronomical binoculars, or a fast refractor with an aperture of at least 100 mm and a wide field of view. The constellation Cassiopeia is non-setting in almost the entire territory of Russia. Only in the very south of the country a small part of it briefly hides behind the horizon.

The myth of the constellation Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia was the wife of the king of Ethiopia, Cepheus (located next to her in the form of a constellation). Once she boasted that her beauty was superior to nerids (50 sea nymphs created by the titan Nereus). They got angry and asked Poseidon to punish her. He could not refuse, as he was married to one of them (Amphitrite). He sent Cetus, a sea monster depicted in the constellation of Cetus, who was supposed to destroy the kingdom. The king asked the oracle for help, and he advised to give Poseidon his daughter Andromeda. With great difficulty they agreed and chained her to a rock. But at the last moment she was saved by Perseus, whom she later married. However, this is not the final. One of her admirers, Phineus, showed up at the wedding and accused her of treason, since only he had the right to marry her. A fight took place in which Perseus used the head of the Gorgon Medusa. But because many people looked at her, the king and queen also turned to stone. Poseidon sent Cassiopeia and Cepheus to heaven. But he nevertheless punished her, since for half a year the constellation remains wrapped upside down. Most often, she is depicted sitting on a throne and combing her hair.

How to find the constellation Cassiopeia?

The constellation Cassiopeia is usually found by the asterism Throne. It is best for someone to show this Throne - it is enough to see this configuration of stars in the sky once, and it will become recognizable forever!

Independently, the constellation Cassiopeia can be found as follows:

1. If you live approximately at the latitude of Moscow, then literally from the very beginning of autumn, going outside at about midnight local time, you will find the Throne asterism right above your head, at the zenith. You just have to correctly determine the angular dimensions of the throne and mentally build its drawing according to the stars.

The largest angular distance in the Throne asterism, between Seguin and Kaf, is about 13°. The angular distance between the thumb and forefinger of the outstretched hand of an adult is 16-18°, so the Throne against the background of the outstretched hand will look approximately as shown in Fig. 5.

Estimation of the angular size of the asterism "Throne" in the constellation Cassiopeia using an outstretched hand. This image, as it were, emphasizes the compactness of the placement of the bright stars of Cassiopeia.

1. An all-weather way to determine the location of Cassiopeia is to “aiming” the beam through already known stars. The best “shot” will turn out if you continue the line from Aliot (ε UMa) beyond the North Star (α UMa), while you get an exact hit on Gamma Cassiopeia Navi, moreover, looking closer you will find that the Big Dipper and the asterism Throne of Cassiopeia are located centrally symmetrically relative to the Pole Star.

It is necessary to mentally draw a line through Aliot Ursa Major and the North Star - it will lead to the brightest star of Cassiopeia Navi. There are other options: from any of the stars of the handle of the Big Dipper, also draw lines to the Polar one, all of them will lead to Cassiopeia. In such a position as in Figure 7 Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia and the Throne can be seen in the late spring evening.

• If you look at the Sun from Alpha Centauri, one of the closest stars to us, then it will be in Cassiopeia and will be visible as a star of 0.5 magnitude.
• Stephen King's novel The Green Mile mentions the constellation Cassiopeia: the novel's protagonist, John Coffey, refers to the constellation as "Cassie the lady in the rocking chair", reflecting an American folklore reflection of an ancient myth. The constellation Cassiopeia is also mentioned in the novel The Langoliers.
• Also, the constellation Cassiopeia is mentioned in the movie Intuition (2001), where the main character Jonathan (John Cusack) tells the myth about the constellation to a girl named Sarah (Kate Beckinsale).
• The star alpha Cassiopeia is the goal of the expedition in the Soviet science fiction film-dilogue "Moscow - Cassiopeia / Youths in the Universe", released by the film studio. Gorky in 1973-1974.
• Cassiopeia (Cassiopeia) - the name of the official fan club of the group DBSK
• Cassiopeia in the world of Middle-earth, created by the writer J. R. R. Tolkien, corresponds to the constellation Vilvarin (Butterfly).
• Flammarion, in his book “The Starry Sky and Its Wonders,” tells about the work of a certain English writer “The Star ψ of Cassiopeia, an amazing story of one of the worlds in space, a description of the peculiar nature, habits, travels and literary works of the inhabitants there.” According to the author, the manuscript of the book was found in an empty fireball found in the Himalayas.

W-asterism

Cassiopeia includes an asterism that forms a memorable image of the constellation - W-asterism. It consists of the brightest stars of the constellation, ε (Seguin), δ (Rukbach), γ (Navi), α (Shedar) and β (Kaf), forming a figure resembling the Latin letter "W".

Shedar(Alpha Cassiopeiae) is an orange giant of spectral type K0IIIa at 228 light years. This is a suspicious variable star. The apparent value may vary depending on which photometric system is used. The range contains from 2.20 to 2.23 magnitudes. It is located in the lower right corner of the W-asterism. The name Shedar is taken from the Arabic "şadr" - "chest". It marks the star position - in the heart of Cassiopeia.

cafe(Beta Cassiopeiae) is a subgiant or giant of spectral type F2 III-IV. It is 54.5 light years away from us. It is a Delta Scuti type variable star. Brighter than her in this class only Altair(star in constellation Aquila and 12th in the sky). This yellow-white star is 28 times brighter than the Sun and 4 times larger. It is currently in the process of cooling and will one day become a red giant.

Variables like Delta Scutum exhibit fluctuations in brightness due to radial and non-radial ripples on the surface. They are usually giants or main sequence stars with spectral types ranging from A0 to F5.

The mean apparent magnitude is 2.27. From the Arabic kaf is translated as "palm" (that is, the palm of the Pleiades is a well-known cluster in the constellation Taurus). Other traditional names are al-Sanam al-Naqa and al-Kaff al-Hadib.

Together with the stars Alpheratz (Andromeda) and Algenib (Pegasus), Kaph was perceived as one of the Three Guides - three bright stars that create an imaginary line from Kaph to Alpheratz to the celestial equator (the point where the Sun passes in the spring and autumn equinoxes).

Navi(Gamma Cassiopeia) is an eruptive variable star that serves as the prototype for the variable stars Gamma Cassiopeia. Shows irregular changes in brightness from 2.20 to 3.40 magnitude. It is the W-shaped central star and the brightest in the constellation (now). It is a blue star (spectral type B0.5 IVe) located 610 light-years away with a brightness 40,000 times that of the sun and about 15 solar masses. Due to the rapid rotation, it expands at the equator and creates a “maternity” disk of lost mass and material. The Chinese call it Qih - "whip". She also has the nickname "Navi" from astronaut Virgil Grissom. Navi is Ivan (in English, Ivan is the middle name of an astronaut), written in reverse order. The astronauts used the star as a guide.

Rukbach(Delta Cassiopeia) is a double star with a period of 460 days. It belongs to the spectral class A5. It is 99 light years distant and has an apparent magnitude between 2.68 and 2.74. It ranks fourth in brightness in the cluster. The name came from the Arabic - "knee". Sometimes it is called Xora.

Seguin(Epsilon Cassiopeiae) is a bright blue-white B-class giant 440 light years away. 2500 times brighter than the Sun with an apparent magnitude of 3.34. Age - 65 million years. The star is at the end of a cycle of hydrogen fusion. Differs in very weak spectral absorption of helium.

Achird(Eta Cassiopeii) is a yellow-white G-type hydrogen dwarf star, slightly cooler than the Sun. The surface temperature is 5730 Kelvin and the apparent magnitude is 3.45. It is the closest star in Cassiopeia to our system (only 19.4 light years away).

Achird has a companion, an orange K-class dwarf with an apparent magnitude of 7.51, 11 arcseconds away. Both are classified as a variable star, RS Canis Hounds. They form a close binary star and have active chromospheres that create large star spots. This leads to changes in luminosity - the brightness fluctuates by 0.05 magnitudes.

Zeta Cassiopeiae is a blue-white subgiant (B2IV) 600 light years away. The apparent visual magnitude is 3.67. It is an SPB (slowly pulsating B) variable star with a magnetic field. The rotation speed is 56 km/s, and the period is 5.37 days.

Rho Cassiopeia- a yellow hypergiant (a rare type, since there are only 7 of them in the Milky Way). It belongs to the spectral class G2Ia0e and is 11650 light years away. One of the brightest stars. Despite the distance, it can be viewed without technical equipment. It is 550,000 times brighter than the Sun with an absolute magnitude of 7.5. Apparent visual magnitude ranges from 4.1 to 6.2. This is a semi-regular variable with huge spikes every 50 years (due to this, the brightness changes). In 2000-2001, the star ejected about 10,000 Earth masses in one outburst. Scientists believe that it exploded as a supernova because it used up most of its nuclear fuel. But if this is so, then the light from the explosion has not yet reached us.

V509 Cassiopeiae is a G-type supergiant at 7800 light years. The yellow-white star belongs to semi-regular variables. Luminosity varies within 4.75-5.5.

Notable objects

• Star Tycho Brahe. In 1572, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe noticed the sudden appearance of a bright new star in the constellation Cassiopeia, not far from κ Cas. The new star gradually weakened and ceased to be visible after sixteen months. Today it is known that it was a supernova - one of the last explosions of stars observed in the Milky Way galaxy. About 7,500 light-years away, the supernova remnant has a diameter of nearly 20 light-years.
• Cassiopeia A. This constellation contains one of the most powerful sources of galactic radio emission - Cassiopeia A (Cas A). The flow of radio waves from this region of the sky is many times more powerful than the radio emission of the star Tycho Brahe. In 1951, photographic plates sensitive to red light recorded fragments of a small radio nebula associated with Cassiopeia-A. Based on the rate of expansion of the nebula, it was calculated that the explosion that gave rise to it occurred presumably in 1667. In the sky, this object is located between β Cassiopeia and δ Cephei.

Among other interesting objects of the constellation:

• Open star clusters M52 (NGC 7654), M103 (NGC 581), NGC 457 and NGC 7789,
• Dwarf elliptical galaxies NGC 147 and NGC 185 are satellites of the Andromeda Nebula,
• Diffuse NebulaNGC 281
• A giant sphere of gas is the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635).
• Nebulae IC 1805, IC 1848, and IC 1795, which are associated with radio sources W4, W5, and W3, respectively.

Cassiopeia- the wife of the Ethiopian king Kefei, who ruled Ionna, the mother of Adromeda. Details of the almost tragic story can be found on the Perseid page. Here I will only note that, since Cassiopeia played the most insidious role in this story, Zeus placed her in the sky, sitting in a basket. When the basket in the heavenly movement turns over, Cassiopeia flounders in it for everyone to laugh at!

And some cynical jokers claim that they are not even in a basket, but on a gynecological chair ... Let's leave this observation on their conscience.

Story

Cassiopeia one of the oldest constellations.

Prehistory and antiquity

It may have been included in the list of other Minoan constellations, although this list is too unreliable to assert with any certainty.

Whether this is so, it is difficult to say, but Cassiopeia, of course, is one of the oldest ancient constellations. Its easily remembered characteristic W-shape, proximity to the north pole of the World, almost constant visibility over the horizon (although worse in antiquity than now) could not but attract attention. I am inclined to include it in a hypothetical list of early antique constellations.

The Babylonian astronomers have a constellation in this place. Deer(LU.LIM). A perfectly understandable application: the underlying asterism of the constellation, the W-asterism, in this case is interpreted as antlers. It is easy to see that this eastern constellation did not influence the Greek imagination in any way.

The classic legend associated with the constellation is the myth of Cassiopeia, the Ionian queen. It was traditionally believed that in the sky she was tied to a chair, so that periodically with the rotation of the sky she turned upside down. Later, Cassiopeia was depicted sitting on a throne.

It seems to me a convincing version that Cassiopeia was originally natural a constellation, that is, a group of stars that looked like some specific object, namely, in this case, an armchair, in general, a seat (not in the sense of an ass, but in the sense of furniture, of course!). The stars of the ε-δ constellation form the back, δ-γ-α - in fact, uh, seat, and α-β - support for the legs. And how the seat of the chair was transformed into a queen is unknown. Probably, this transformation occurred during the formation of the Perseid constellation plot group - Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Cepheus, Perseus and, possibly, Pegasus, - which occurred a little later.

The constellation is part of the Ptolemy catalog. Ptolemy counts 13 stars in the constellation.

Arat of Soli in "Phenomena" writes about Cassiopeia:

Cassiopeia sits next to her husband,
Even at that time it is bright when the full moon comes,
Although a few of its lights make up the constellation.
By the arrangement of the stars with the key, it is similar, which
A lock enters the well, iron teeth move
And unlocks the bolt. She has a distorted face
Raising her hands, she froze, ready to sob inconsolably.

As a rule, the Greeks called the constellation simply by the name of the mythological queen - Cassiopeia, Κασσιέπεια .

However, there were also options: Throne(Cassiopeia, Ἡ τοῦ θρόνου ). According to the shape of the constellation, which resembled the groove of a key, see, for example, Arat above, the names were used Laconic Key and Kyrian Key- from the places of Laconia in the Peloponnese and Kyria in Asia Minor, where, it seemed to the Greek, the key was invented. Poetically described as " crescent key of Penelope":

Softly puffed hand artificially curved copper
Key with an ivory hilt dostavshi, queen
I went to that far pantry

Homer, The Odyssey, trans. V. Zhukovsky.

The Romans, in addition to the classical name, used descriptions in their manner: The woman on the throne(armchair) - Mulier Sedis (Sella, Solium), or simply Armchair. Late, Bayerian variant Cathedra mollis considered incorrect. Title used Inthronata.

Middle Ages

To the Arabs, who carefully translated Ptolemy, but were indifferent to Greek myths, the classical name meant nothing, and they used the descriptive Al Dhat al Kursiyy or Dhath Alcursi, still the same Woman in white woman in chair. In English, and now uses exactly a similar name - the Seated Queen, Seated Queen.

However, the Arabs had their own Arabic constellations in place of the Greek Cassiopeia. This is important for us to complete the picture: some stars of the constellation bear echoes of ancient Arabic ideas.

Please note: the five stars of the W-shaped constellation can be represented as five fingers of the hand. This is the constellation Kaff al Ḣadib - "Hand painted with henna"- was among the Arabs. Probably, the stars symbolized the fingertips, painted with vegetable dye - henna. (By the way, the use of henna as a cosmetic product for coloring nails, fingers or palms was practiced back in Crete in the Minoan culture.) It was believed that this" Pleiades palm"- it's rather strange if the fate is that it's not so close to the Pleiades from Cassiopeia - the path lies entirely through the constellation Perseus, and the Pleiades themselves, a small group of stars, are much smaller than their "palm" - Cassiopeia. By the way, according to some evidence, sometimes among the Arabs, Cassiopeia was also called Pleiades - Al Thurayya.