Cassiopeia:The Legendary Queen of Ethiopia
Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus, the Ethiopian king of Joppa (now known as Jaffa, Israel), and the mother of Andromeda. Cassiopeia was both beautiful and vain and the story of how her vanity caused great distress is told in relation to the constellation Andromeda.
After Cassiopeia promised her daughter in marriage to Perseus, she began to have second thoughts: Cassiopeia convinced one of Poseidon’s sons, Agenor, to disrupt the ceremony by claiming Andromeda for himself in order to stop the wedding. To do this, Agenor arrived with an entire army, and a fierce struggle ensued. Legend says that in this battle Cassiopeia is to have cried “Perseus must die.” Despite efforts from Agenor, Perseus was victorious and as he waved the head of the Gorgon’s, (Perseus had recently slain Medusa, the Gorgon, and had put its head in a bed of coral.) He retrieved the head and waved it in front of the wedding party, which instantly turned them, all to stone. In this group was both Cepheus and Cassiopeia.
Poseidon was very upset and contrite and put both father and mother in to the heavens. But because of Cassiopeia’s vanity, he placed her in a chair which revolves around the Pole Star, so half the time she’s obliged to sit upside down. Below is a picture of Queen Cassiopeia in her chair.
Cassiopeia is located one hour right ascension and Cassiopeia’s declination is 60 degrees. Cassiopeia can be seen between the latitudes of 90 and -20 degrees and is best seen in November around 9:00 PM.
Astronomy historian William Ashworth found out in 1980, Cassiopeia may have been discovered by John Flamsteed on August 16 1680, who cataloged it as a star near its position as "3 Cassiopeiae”. However, Flamsteed noted nothing of significance and cataloged it as a simple star. At this point, it is still unclear who first discovered Cassiopeia.
Below is a table that shows Cassiopeia's brightest stars.
| Stars | Right Ascension | Declination | Apparent Magnitude | Spectral Class | Absolute Magnitude | Distance from Earth in Parsec (PC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shedir (Alpha Cas) | 0h 49m 30.440s | 56° 32’ 14.392” | 2.25 | K0 | -6.97 | 70.1 |
| Caph (Beta Cas) | 0h 9m 10.685s | 50° 8’ 59.207&rdquo | 2.28 | F5 | 1.16 | 16.7 |
| Ruchbah (Delta Cas) | 1h 25m 48.952s | 60° 14’ 7.019” | 2.68 | A5 | .26 | 3.0 |
| Segin (Epsilon Cas) | 1h 54m 23.725s | 63°40 ’12.365&rdquo | 3.35 | B3 | -2.30 | 135.5 |
| Achird (Eta Cas) | 0h 49m 6.291s | 57°48’ 54.674&rdquo | 3.45 | F8 | 4.57 | 5.9 |
| Marfak ( Mu Cas) | 1h 8m 16.394s | 54°55’ 13.221&rdquo | 5.17 | G5 | 5.77 | 7.5 |
| Gamma Cas | 0h 56m 42.531s | 60°43’ .265&rdquo | 2.18 | B0 | -4.19 | 187.9 |
Below is a picture of the constellation as it appears in the sky.
Gamma Cassiopeiae, Gamma Cas for short, is also known as 27gam Cas, which is located in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The right ascension of this star is 0h 56m 42.531s and the declination of this star is 60° 43’ 0.265”. This star is approximately 187.9 Parsec (PC) from Earth. This star is classified as a B0 star and has an apparent magnitude of 2.18 and an absolute magnitude of -4.19. Gamma Cas is a blue star that radiates with a huge luminosity some 40,000 times that of the Sun. Gamma Cassiopeiae is more, however, than just another luminous star, even more than one that is apparently approaching the end of its hydrogen-fusing life.
In 1937, the star brightened almost to first magnitude, and it has been as faint as third. Perhaps its lack of a proper name tells us of ancient faintness. Then, in 1866 the father of the study of stellar spectra, Father Angelo Secchi, discovered that the star radiated light in specific colors associated with hydrogen. Gamma Cas thus has the distinction of being the first known “ Be star, ” the “ e” standing for “ emission. ” Be stars are fairly common and weird. All rotate with enormous speed, Gamma Cas spinning at least 300 kilometers per second at its equator, 150 times the solar rate. The rotation and high luminosity conspire to drive mass from the star into a surrounding disk that radiates the “ emissions ”, mass loss apparently related to the brightness variations. Gamma Cas also radiates X-rays, though no one is quite sure why, theories including the transfer of lost mass to a compact companion and magnetic effects similar to those found on the Sun. With a mass of around 15 times that of the Sun, the star will most likely someday explode as a supernova. This star is also unique because there is not a common name for this star. Gamma Cassiopeiae is one of the more interesting of the stars in the Cassiopeia Constellation.
Below is Gamma Cassiopeiae on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams compare the luminosity and the temperature of a star and compare it to the main sequence of stars. This diagram shows that Gamma Cas has a very high temperature but not a large luminosity (absolute magnitdue), therefore Gamma Cas falls below the main sequence of stars, which is represented by the curved dotted line.
Maffei II was discovered by Paolo Maffei in 1968 along with Maffei I. Maffei II is a spiral galaxy located 2h 36m 36.0s and 59° 36’ 00” in the Cassiopeia. Maffei II is also identified as UGCA39 and is in the Maffei Group of Galaxies. Maffei II is approximately 8 million years old and is about 16.0 in magnitude. This spiral galaxy is type SBBc and is about 10 arc minutes in diameter. It's huge! It is hard to estimate the number of members in this galaxy due to the obstruction of the Milky Way (the haze). There is also not a clear estimate of how many members are in this galaxy. This is also caused by the Milky Way as well. Maffei II is a very interesting object for study in the infrared and radio regimes, which show it to be a barred spiral galaxy with a nuclear burst of star formation. Maffei II is one of the nearest examples of the nuclear burst of star formation. Maffei II and the giant elliptical galaxy Maffei I are so close that some, such as Gene Byrd and collaborators, have calculated that these galaxies' gravitational influence might have been significant in the early history of our own Local Group galaxies.
Below is a picture of Maffei II, a spiral galaxy.
This star cluster is sometimes know as “The White Rose ” Cluster or “Caroline’s Rose ” Cluster. NGC 7789 is the star clusters official name. Caroline’s Rose is an open cluster which is located 23h 75 m 24s and 56° 42.5’ 00”. Caroline’s Rose was found on October 30, 1783 by Caroline Herschel. This star cluster is classified as a Trumpler Type II 2 r Open Cluster and is approximately 16 arc minutes in diameter and is about 7,500-8,000 light-years away, located in the Millky Way. The magnitude of Caroline’s Rose is 6.7. It is said that Caroline’s Rose is 1.6 billion years old and has more than 1000 members. The cluster really starts to come alive when observing NGC 7789 in 12” telescope at over 100X. With this telescope, long arches of stars loop around in spiral patterns with dark lanes looping in the between them making it appear like the overhead view of a single white rose. Getting closer to the centers, the stars and loops get tighter and fade into a misty haze like a mass of pollen.
Below are two pictures of NGC 7789. In these two pictures, it is hard to see the rose shape that this star cluster has due to the amount of haze surrounding the cluster due to the Milky Way and also because the cameras need more magnification in order for the rose to be seen.
NGC 7635 or the Bubble Nebula is located some 11,300 light-years from Earth. It is a star that is 40 times more massive than the Sun and is blowing a giant bubble of its own material into space. To find the Bubble Nebula in the sky the right ascension is 23h 20m 42s and its declination is 61° 12’ 00”. This unique nebula is very rare example of a planetary nebula around an OB star. There are not many O stars in HII regions that have ring nebulae. At the center of the Bubble Nebula is an 8th magnitude star. This star emits ultraviolet light which cause the gas to glow and through a process known as fluorescence (which is the emission of visible light by a substance that has absorbed light of a different wavelength), and winds of material blown out from the star give the nebula its characteristic shape. The Bubble Nebula is some 10 light years across in diameter and is one of the most exquisite nebulas in the Universe, especially in Cassiopeia.
Below are some pictures of The Bubble Nebula. The beautiful colors make this nebula extremely beautiful to look at.
365 Days of Astronomy. (2009, November 16). Caroline Herschel’s White Rose – NGC 7789. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from 365 Days of Astronomy-Podcast: http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/11/16/november-16th-carolyn-herschels-white-rose-ngc-7789/
This website was a great source because it had a lot of useful information on Caroline's White Rose, which was a hard topic to find information on. This site was also good because it had a podcast, which was something that I had not come across for. This site was also helpful when it came to finding pictures for the website.
Berman, B. (1995). Secrets of the Night Sky. New York: HaperCollins.
This book was really great because it gave me an idea of what was in my constellation. There were examples of different type of Messier objects which was helpful when I was trying to find a galaxy and other objects to report on. Also this book was recommend by Professor Barrans, so I knew it would be a helpful book.
Google, Inc. (2008, January). M52: The Constellation Cassiopeia. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from http://www.crystalinks.com/cassiopeia.html
This website was useful because it really gave me a look into Cassiopeia. This site was especially useful when I had to find the stars that made up the constellation so I could make my model. This website also gave me a little bit of the mythology behind the constellation.
Kaler, J. B. (2002). Cassiopeia. In J. B. Kaler, The Hundred Greatest Stars (pp. 66-70). New York: Copernicus.
This book was especially helpful when it came to looking for star information. The book actually gave me more stars than I needed and went in to a fairly good depth about each main star in the constellation. I would recommend this book to other because of the sheer amount of information the book held.
Kaler, J. (2009, November 20). Gamma Cas. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Stars: http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/gammacas.html
This website gave me an overview of the star Gamma Cas, which I chose to do for the star part of this report. I thought that this was really helpful because it was a starting point and a lot of the information that was in this website lead me to other websites, which was extremely helpful.
Kurita, N. (2005). Maffei I and II (Galaxies in Cassiopeia). Retrieved December 1, 2009, from Stellar Scenes: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/stellar/scenes/object_e/maffei1_2.htm
This site was great because it allowed me to compare both of the Maffei Galaxies and really allowed me to see how the galaxies interacted with each other in Cassiopeia. There was not a lot of information on this site strictly about Maffei 2, however the pictures were very useful.
Lodriguss, J. (1998). NGC 7635-Bubble Nebula. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from Catching the Light: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/E_SUM_N/NGC7635.HTM
The pictures on this website were amazing, and there was a little blurb about each of the objects. This was a very good starting point for me when trying to learn about the Bubble Nebula. Also, the picture that appears on this page, also appears in my project.
Miller, D. (2004). Bubble Nebula. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from Science and Technology: http://www.astrographics.com/GalleryPrintsIndex/GP0031.html
This website was really helpful when I need more information on the Bubble Nebula. Also, the pictures were incrediable.
NNDB. (2009). John Flamsteed. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from http://www.nndb.com/people/727/000096439/
This website was useful when I need more information about the founder of Cassiopeia, while it did not have a lot, it had some very useful facts and was a great help to me when writing this project
Plotner, T. (2008). Cassiopeia. Universe Today .
This journal gave a lot of information about Cassiopeia, especially about the mythology that surrounds the constellation. Also, the pictures were very helpful when making the model and making sure I label the stars correctly.
Plotner, T. (2009, June 2). Magic Bubble. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/02/magic-bubble-ngc-7635-by-jp-metsavainio/
This site was great because it had really beautiful pictures, and it really explained how the bubble is created and what is happening inside and that was really interesting for this report.
Powell, R. (2006, July 30). The Maffei Group. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from An Atlas of the Universe: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galgrps/maffei.html
This website gave me a lot of good information and pictures about the Maffei 2 galaxy including the type of galaxy it is. It also gave me number, like the right ascension and declination. This information was really helpful when I was writing this report.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Science. (2007). Notable Stars. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Gamma Cassiopeiae: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/G/Gamma_Cassiopeiae.html
This website was really great because it gave me more numbers for Gamma Cas as well as a picture. This website also gave me a little history of the star which was a really interesting part of the star and its life especially in Cassiopeia.
UA Astronomy. (2006). Maffei 2. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from http://www.astr.ua.edu/gifimages/maffei2.html
This website had great pictures and useful information that I could not find on the other websites about Maffei 2, including who founded the galaxy.
Wingmaker Products. (n.d.). Constellations. Retrieved November 20, 2009, from Cassiopeia: http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers/Cassiopeia.html
This was a great website for the myth of Cassiopeia as well as information on the stars within the constellation. Also this website provided useful information on the types of objects with in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
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Copyright © 2009, Molly Koshewa Revised: 2 December 2009. Maintained by Molly Koshewa