Cassiopeia is a constellation that is located in the northern hemisphere of our sky. Interestingly, only a fraction of its stars belong to the Milky Way galaxy.
First observations and legends
The modern name for this cluster of stars was given by the ancient Greeks. The ancients believed that this was the ascended into heaven wife of King Ethiopia Kefey and mother of Andromeda Cassiopeia. The constellation seemed to the inhabitants of Greece the embodiment of her beauty and incredible boasting, for which she was placed in heaven. According to legend, this
the queen once boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids. The Nereids complained to Poseidon of such impudence, after which he sent a sea monster to Ethiopia, which was devouring people and flooding in the appendage. Apollodorus wrote that the oracle told Kepheus the way to salvation. The latter was supposed to sacrifice his own beautiful daughter, Andromeda, to the monster. Cassiopeia opposed such a decision, but the people of Ethiopia forced the royal family to do this in order to save all the inhabitants of the country. Andromeda was given to the monster to be eaten as a ransom sacrifice. She was chained naked at the foot of a cliff on the seashore. At this moment, Perseus flew over the country on his winged horse Pegasus. He saved the girl, beheaded the monster and took her as a wife. However, the girl had previously been promised as a wife to Phineus, who was the brother of Kefey. The result was a battle
between the supporters of Phineus and Perseus, as a result of which many opponents from both sides were killed. Subsequently, all the characters of this legend found their place in the starry sky.
First scientific observations
A serious study of the cluster began already in modern times. So, in 1572, the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe noticed the sudden appearance of a new star. This star in the constellation Cassiopeia initially shone extremely brightly. However, over the course of sixteen months her light gradually dimmed until it completely disappeared. At the time of the Danish astronomer, this phenomenon was not yet known, but he observed a flash of a supernova, which was formed as a result of the explosion. By the way, to this day, this explosion in the cluster is the last supernova of the Milky Way that a person has had to observe.
Constellation information
The cluster has 76 stars visible to the naked eye. The constellation Cassiopeia (photo on the right) has an asterism, which is called "W - asterism", since the five brightest stars of the cluster create a figure resembling the corresponding letter. Each of the stars of this asterism has its own name: Navi, Shedar, Kaf, Rukbakh, Segin. It is possible to observe Cassiopeia all year round, however, the most successful time for this is in September, October and November, when it is most clearly visible. Cassiopeia is a constellation that is also closely surrounded by other clusters: Giraffe, Cepheus, Lizard, Andromeda, Perseus. But, despite this, finding it is quite simple: for this you need to draw a mentally straight line from the brightest star of the Big Dipper through the North Star. Continuation of this straight line will be Cassiopeia. The constellation is clearly visible in Russia.