Cassiopeia (astronomy), northern constellation, near the celestial pole. It is distinguished by a group of five stars, of second to fourth magnitude, in the form of a rough letter W. The brightest supernova on record appeared in the constellation in 1572 and was observed by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Brighter than the planet Venus, for about 16 months Cassiopeia was visible to the naked eye even at noon. It is named for the mythological Ethiopian queen Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda.
Showing posts with label Cassiopeia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassiopeia. Show all posts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
POPULAR POSTS
-
Comet, a small celestial body consisting mostly of dust and gases that moves in an elongated elliptical or nearly parabolic orbit around the...
-
Standard time, civil time used within a given time zone. The earth is divided into 24 time zones, each of which is about 15° of longitude w...
-
Star (astronomy), massive shining sphere of hot gas . Of all the stars in the universe , our Sun is the nearest to Earth and the most exten...