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Cam
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Camelopardalis
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the Giraffe
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6
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+70
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757
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18th
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0
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β Cam
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403
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None
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Vrhbosna/Ursa_Major" class="copylinks">Ursa Major
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90
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10
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February
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,
Latin for ''
Giraffe '', is the name of a large but faint
Northern Constellation first recorded by
Jakob Bartsch in
1624 , but probably created earlier by
Petrus Plancius .
Although Camelopardalis is the 18th largest constellation, it is not a particularly bright constellation, as the brightest stars are only of fourth magnitude.
β Camelopardalis is the brightest star, at
Apparent Magnitude 4.03. This star is a
Double Star , with components of magnitudes 4.0 and 7.4.
The second brightest is
CS Camelopardalis (which has neither a
Bayer nor
Flamsteed Designation ). It is of magnitude 4.21 (slightly
Variable ).
In some astronomical reference books, one will often see an alternate spelling of this constellation as Camelopardis.
>
NGC 2403 is a
Spiral Galaxy approximately 11 million light years distant. It is of magnitude 8.4.
NGC 1502 is an
Open Cluster around 6,800
Light Year s distant. It is of magnitude 6.0.
Camelopardalis has no mythology associated with its stars, as it is a modern constellation, first recorded by Jakob Bartsch. The faintness of the constellation, and that of the nearby constellation
Lynx , lead to the early Greeks considering this area of the sky to be empty, and thus a
Desert .
However, as a desert, together with other features in the
Zodiac sign of
Gemini (i.e. the
Milky Way , and the constellations
Gemini ,
Orion ,
Auriga , and
Canis Major ), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of
Geryon , which forms one of
The Twelve Labours of
Herakles .
The stars of the constellation Camelopardalis can be connected in a fuller way, which graphically shows a
Giraffe .
The giraffe's body consists of the quadrangle of stars
α Camelopardalis ,
β Camelopardalis ,
BE Camelopardalis , and
γ Camelopardalis : α and β Camelopardalis being of the fourth magnitude.
The stars
HR 2209 and
M Camelopardalis form the
Head of the giraffe, and the stars M Camelopardalis and α Camelopardalis form the giraffe's long
Neck .
Stars beta Camelopardalis and
7 Camelopardalis form the giraffe's front leg, whereas
Variable Star s BE Camelopardalis and
CS Camelopardalis form the giraffe's hind leg.
- H. A. Rey, ''The Stars — A New Way To See Them''. Enlarged World-Wide Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997. ISBN 0-395-24830-2.
Source:
The Bright Star Catalogue , 5th Revised Ed.,
The Hipparcos Catalogue, ESA SP-1200
