Camelopardalis

Camelopardalis

Constellation
List of stars in Camelopardalis
Abbreviation	Cam
Genitive	Camelopardalis
Pronunciation	/kəˌmɛləˈpɑrdəlɨs/ Camélopárdalis, genitive the same
Symbolism	the Giraffe
Right ascension	6
Declination	+70
Area	757 sq. deg. (18th)
Main stars	2, 8
Bayer/Flamsteed stars	36
Stars with known planets	3
Bright stars	0
Nearby stars	0
Brightest star	β Cam (4.03m)
Nearest star	GJ 445 (17.5 ly)
Messier objects	0
Meteor showers	October Camelopardalids
Bordering constellations	Draco Ursa Minor Cepheus Cassiopeia Perseus Auriga Lynx Ursa Major
Visible at latitudes between +90° and −10°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of February.

Look up camelopardalis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Camelopardalis, from Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (Greeks thought that it had the head of a camel and the spots of a leopard), is a large but faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for giraffe. The constellation was first described by Jakob Bartsch in 1624, but was created earlier by Petrus Plancius. In older astronomy books, one will sometimes see an alternative spelling of the name as Camelopardus.

Notable features

Stars

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 a Flamsteed designation. It is of magnitude 4.21 and is slightly variable. Other double stars interesting to amateurs are OΣ 67 Camelopardalis with a greenish companion, 19 Camelopardalis (probably an optical double), and Σ 1694 Camelopardalis (a blue and yellow optical double).^[1] Other variable stars are U Camelopardalis, VZ Camelopardalis, and Mira variables T Camelopardalis, X Camelopardalis, and R Camelopardalis.^[1]

Deep sky objects

NGC 2403 is a spiral galaxy approximately 11 million light years distant. It is of magnitude 8.4. NGC 1502 is a magnitude 6.0 open cluster about 6,800 light years distant. NGC1501 is a planetary nebula. NGC 2655 is a small galaxy. IC 342 is one of the brightest two galaxies in the IC 342/Maffei Group of galaxies

History

Camelopardalis as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825. Above it are shown the now-abandoned constellations of Tarandus and Custos Messium.

The faintness of the constellation, and that of the nearby constellation Lynx, led to the early Greeks considering this area of the sky to be empty. Camelopardalis was not defined as a constellation until the seventeenth century and thus has no mythology associated with its stars.

Visualizations

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H. A. Rey has suggested an alternative way to connect the stars of Camelopardalis into a giraffe figure.

Diagram of H. A. Rey's method of connecting the stars of the constellation Camelopardalis, in order to show a giraffe.

The giraffe's body consists of the quadrangle of stars α Cam, β Cam, BE Cam, and γ Cam: α Cam and β Cam being of the fourth magnitude. The stars HD 42818 (HR 2209) and M Cam form the head of the giraffe, and the stars M Cam and α Cam form the giraffe's long neck. Stars β Cam and 7 Cam form the giraffe's front leg, and variable stars BE Cam and CS Cam form the giraffe's hind leg.

Notes

References

• H. A. Rey, The Stars — A New Way To See Them. Enlarged World-Wide Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1997. ISBN 0-395-24830-2.
• Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0691135564.
• NASA - Voyager Interstellar Mission Characteristics

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Camelopardalis

• The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Camelopardalis
• Star Tales – Camelopardalis

Coordinates: 06^h 00^m 00^s, +70° 00′ 00″