Camelopardalis

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Camelopardalis
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Abbreviation	Cam
Genitive	Camelopardalis
Symbology	the Giraffe
Right ascension	6 h
Declination	+70°
Area	757 sq. deg. Ranked 18th
Number of stars (Bayer-Flamsteed)	36
Number of bright stars (magnitude < 3)	0
Number of nearby stars (Distance < 100 ly)	0
Brightest star	β Cam (App. magnitude 4.03)
Nearest Star	M Cam (Distance: 187 ly)
Meteor showers	None
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

Camelopardalis (IPA: /ˌkamələˈpɑːd(ə)lɪs, kəˌmɛlə(ʊ)-/), Latin: giraffe), is the name of a large but faint northern constellation first recorded by Jakob Bartsch in 1624, but probably created earlier by Petrus Plancius.

1 Notable features
2 Notable deep sky objects
3 Mythology
4 Graphic visualization
- 4.1 References
5 Notable and named stars
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Notable features

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 Flamsteed designation). It is of magnitude 4.21 (slightly variable).

In some astronomical reference books, one will often see an alternate spelling of this constellation as Camelopardis.

In approximately 40000 years Voyager 1 will pass within 1.6 light years of AC+793888 in Camelopardalis. [1]

[edit] Notable deep sky objects

NGC 2403 is a spiral galaxy approximately 11 million light years distant. It is of magnitude 8.4. NGC 1502 is an open cluster around 6,800 light years distant. It is of magnitude 6.0.

[edit] Mythology

Camelopardalis has no mythology associated with its stars, as it is a modern constellation, first recorded by Jakob Bartsch. The faintness of the constellation, and that of the nearby constellation Lynx, lead to the early Greeks considering this area of the sky to be empty, and thus a desert.

However, as a desert, together with other features in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. the Milky Way, and the constellations Gemini, Orion, Auriga, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

[edit] Graphic visualization

Image:Camelopardalis constellation map visualization.PNG

The stars of the constellation Camelopardalis can be connected in a fuller way, which graphically shows a giraffe.

The giraffe's body consists of the quadrangle of stars α Camelopardalis, β Camelopardalis, BE Camelopardalis, and γ Camelopardalis: α and β Camelopardalis being of the fourth magnitude.

The stars HR 2209 and M Camelopardalis form the head of the giraffe, and the stars M Camelopardalis and α Camelopardalis form the giraffe's long neck.

Stars beta Camelopardalis and 7 Camelopardalis form the giraffe's front leg, and variable stars BE Camelopardalis and CS Camelopardalis form the giraffe's hind leg.

[edit] 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.
NASA - Voyager Interstellar Mission Characteristics

[edit] Notable and named stars

BD	F	Names and other designations	Right ascension	Declination	Mag.	Ly away	Comments
β	10	Beta Camelopardalis	05^h03^m25.1^s	+60°26′32″	4.03	1000
		CS Camelopardalis	03^h29^m04.1^s	+59°56′25″	4.21v	>4300	Alpha Cygni variable
α	9	Alpha Camelopardalis	04^h54^m03.0^s	+66°20′34″	4.29	>6900
	7	7 Camelopardalis	04^h57^m17.2^s	+53°45′08″	4.47	376
		BE Camelopardalis	03^h49^m31.2^s	+65°31′34″	4.47v	965	irregular variable
M		M Camelopardalis	07^h00^m04^s	+76°58′39″	4.55	187
γ		Gamma Camelopardalis	03^h50^m21.5^s	+71°19′56″	4.63	335
		HD_42818, HR 2209	06^h18^m50.8^s	+69°19′11″	4.76	176
		VZ Camelopardalis	07^h31^m04.4^s	+82°24′41″	4.92v	473	semiregular variable
	3	3 Camelopardalis	04^h39^m54.7^s	+53°04′47″	5.05	496	Cepheid variable
	11	11 Camelopardalis, BV Camelopardalis	05^h06^m08.5^s	+58°58′21″	5.08v	671	Double star with 12 Camelopardalis Gamma Cassiopeiae variable
	43	43 Camelopardalis	06^h53^m42.2^s	+68°53′18″	5.12	1000
	42	42 Camelopardalis	06^h50^m57.1^s	+67°34′19″	5.14	867
	31	31 Camelopardalis, TU Camelopardalis	05^h54^m57.8^s	+59°53′18″	5.20v	405	Eclipsing binary
	16	16 Camelopardalis	05^h23^m27.8^s	+57°32′40″	5.28
	4	4 Camelopardalis	04^h48^m00.3^s	+56°45′26″	5.30
	36	36 Camelopardalis	06^h12^m51.1^s	+65°43′06″	5.32
	2	2 Camelopardalis	04^h39^m58.1^s	+53°28′23″	5.35
	40	40 Camelopardalis	06^h15^m40.6^s	+59°59′57″	5.35
	37	37 Camelopardalis	06^h09^m59.1^s	+58°56′09″	5.36
	17	17 Camelopardalis	05^h30^m10.2^s	+63°04′02″	5.42
	5	5 Camelopardalis	04^h55^m03.1^s	+55°15′33″	5.52
	1	1 Camelopardalis	04^h32^m01.8^s	+53°54′39″	5.77
	51	51 Camelopardalis	07^h46^m40.1^s	+65°27′21″	5.92
	26	26 Camelopardalis	05^h46^m30.4^s	+56°06′56″	5.94	193
	53	53 Camelopardalis, AX Camleopardalis	08^h01^m42.4^s	+60°19′28″	6.01v	321	Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable
	24	24 Camelopardalis	05^h43^m01.6^s	+56°34′54″	6.05
	8	8 Camelopardalis	04^h59^m46.3^s	+53°09′20″	6.08
	12	12 Camelopardalis, BM Camelopardalis	05^h06^m12.2^s	+59°01′16″	6.08v	625	Double star with 11 Camelopardalis RS Canum Venaticorum variable
	15	15 Camelopardalis	05^h19^m27.8^s	+58°07′02″	6.13
	30	30 Camelopardalis	05^h52^m17.4^s	+58°57′51″	6.14
	19	19 Camelopardalis	05^h37^m15.1^s	+64°09′17″	6.15
	23	23 Camelopardalis	05^h44^m08.6^s	+61°28′36″	6.17
	47	47 Camelopardalis	07^h22^m17.2^s	+59°54′07″	6.35
	18	18 Camelopardalis	05^h32^m33.8^s	+57°13′16″	6.48
	49	49 Camelopardalis, BC Camelopardalis	07^h46^m27.4^s	+62°49′50″	6.49v	265	Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable
	14	14 Camelopardalis	05^h13^m31.3^s	+62°41′29″	6.50
	29	29 Camelopardalis	05^h50^m34.0^s	+56°55′08″	6.53
	28	28 Camelopardalis	05^h46^m54.60^s	+56°55′26.4″	6.79	622
	22	22 Camelopardalis	05^h39^m05.43^s	+56°21′36.4″	7.03	196