Giraffe (constellation)

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Giraffe constellation
Camelopardalis constellation map.png
Legend
Latin name Camelopardalis
Latin genitive Camelopardalis
Abbreviation Cam
Right ascension 3153603 h 15 m 36 s to  14 h 27 m 08 s142708
declination 2523956+ 52 ° 39 ′ 56 ″ to  + 86 ° 05 ′ 51 ″2860551
surface 756.828 deg²
rank 18
Completely visible 90 ° N to 1.5 ° S
Observation time for Central Europe All year round
Number of stars brighter than 3 mag 0
Brightest star (size) β Cam (4.03)
Meteor streams
Neighboring constellations
(
clockwise from north )
swell IAU ,
From the star atlas by Johann Elert Bode from 1782
From the star atlas by Johann Elert Bode from 1782

The giraffe or the camelopard ( Latin Camelopardalis ) is a constellation of the northern sky .

description

The Giraffe constellation as seen with the naked eye

The giraffe is a vast but very inconspicuous constellation and can be observed all year round.

Between the prominent constellations Great Bear and Kassiopeia and the bright stars Polaris (in Little Bear ) and Capella (in Fuhrmann ) there is a large area that does not contain any conspicuous stars. The giraffe, which is composed only of stars of the fourth, fifth or sixth magnitude , extends in this area . The brightest star, β Camelopardalis, has an apparent magnitude of 4.0 mag.

history

In ancient times, the stars of the giraffe were not assigned to any constellation. It was not until the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius introduced Camelopardalis in 1612, apparently to fill the supposed “gap” in the sky.

The German astronomer Jacob Bartsch , a son-in-law of Johannes Kepler , adopted the constellation in his Planisphaerium Stellaris , published in 1624 . However, he saw it as a mount mentioned in the Bible , on which Rebekah rode to her wedding. Apparently, Bartsch believed it was a camel .

Celestial objects

Stars

B. F. Names, other names Apparent brightness  likes Absolute brightness  Mag Lj Spectral class
102β 10 4.03 −3.4 1000 G0 Ib
101α 9 4.26 −7 7000 O9.5 Ia
400 7th 4.43 −0.9 380 A1 V
400 BE 4.47 −3 1000 M1 III
103γ 4.59 −0.5 340
400 CE 4.60 −5 2500 A0 Ia
300M. 4.55 0.76 187 K4 III
400 BK 4.74 −2 800 B2.5 V
400 HR 2209 4.76 1.1 176 A0 V
400 HR 1129 4.78 −2 800 A3 V
400 VZ 4.92 −0.9 470 M4 IIIa
400 3 5.05
400 11 5.08
400 43 5.12
400 42 5.14

Alpha Camelopardalis is the third brightest star in the giraffe with an apparent magnitude of 4.26 mag. Measurements from the Hipparcos satellite showed a distance of 7,000 light years. Since the parallax measurements for distant stars are associated with great inaccuracies, the distance could also be only 4000 light years. The star is a massive bluish-white supergiant .

Double stars

system Apparent brightness  likes distance
β 4.03 / 7.4 81 "
11 5.1 / 6.3 180 "

Beta Camelopardalis is a binary star system 1500 light years away. It consists of a yellowish main star of the spectral class G0 and a white luminous companion star of the spectral class A5. The main star has 7 times the mass and 32 times the luminosity of our sun .

The system 11 Camelopardalis is 600 light years away. It consists of a bluish-white star of the spectral class B3 and an orange star of the spectral class K0.

Both systems can be resolved into single stars with a small telescope .

Variable stars

star Apparent brightness  likes period Type
U Semi-regular variable star
Z 10.0 to 14.5 irregular Dwarf Nova
BE Slowly irregularly changing star
BV Be star
CS Short-term variable

NGC objects

NGC other m Type Surname
1502 6.0 Open star cluster
2403 8.5 Galaxy
IC 342 8.4 Galaxy

NGC 1502 is an open star cluster 6800 light years away that was discovered by Wilhelm Herschel . A loose cluster of stars can be seen in larger binoculars . A multitude of stars can be seen in the telescope.

NGC 2403 is a galaxy about 10 million light years away. It can already be seen in binoculars as a misty spot. Hints of spiral arms can be seen in a larger telescope.

See also

Web links

Commons : Giraffe constellation  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Duden: Camelopard