( which
Greek Mythology considered to represent
A Vain Queen who boasted about her unrivaled beauty. It is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 listed by
Ptolemy .
Cassiopeia contains two stars visible to the naked eye that rank among the most luminous in the galaxy:
ρ Cas and
V509 Cas . The star
η Cas is a nearby (19.4
Ly )
Binary Star comprising a yellow
Sun -like dwarf and an orange dwarf star.
If we were to observe Earth's
Sun from
Alpha Centauri , it would appear to be in Cassiopeia as a yellow-white 0.5 magnitude star. The famous "W" of Cassiopeia would become a zig-zag pattern with the Sun at the leftmost end, closest to
ε Cas .
Cassiopeia looks like a W or a crown.
Two
Messier Object s,
Messier 52 (NGC 7654) and
Messier 103 (NGC 581) are located in Cassiopeia. Both are
Open Cluster s and being 7th
Magnitude objects they are easy targets with binoculars.
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- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). ''Collins Stars and Planets Guide'', HarperCollins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209.
