Its traditional name, Alderamin, is derived from the Arabic phrase að-ðirā‘ al-yamīn, which means “the right arm.” The star has an apparent magnitude of 2.5141. It is approximately 49 light years distant. It is a white class A star, currently evolving from a main sequence star into a subgiant. Cepheus stars Alderamin – α Cephei (Alpha Cephei)Īlpha Cephei is the brightest star in the constellation. Unfortunately, the king and queen did not look away from the Gorgon’s head in time and were turned to stone, too. Perseus tried to fight off all his opponents, but he was sorely outnumbered and had to use the head of Medusa to turn his enemies into stone. Phineus and his followers asked that Andromeda be turned over to them, but Cepheus refused them and there was a fight. Perseus and Andromeda were celebrating their wedding when Phineus, Cepheus’ brother, turned up, claiming that she had been promised to him first. Luckily, the hero Perseus found the princess first, rescued her and defeated the monster. Once, she boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs, one of them the wife of the sea god Poseidon), which angered the nymphs and Poseidon, who then sent a sea monster, represented by the constellation Cetus, to ravage Cepheus’ land.Ĭepheus turned to an oracle for advice on how to prevent a calamity and the oracle told him that the only way to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice his daughter Andromeda to the monster.ĭesperate, Cepheus and Cassiopeia did this, leaving their daughter chained to the rock for Cetus to find. Cepheus ruled not the modern-day Ethiopia, but the stretch of land between the southeastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the area that contains parts of the modern-day Egypt, Israel and Jordan.Ĭepheus’ wife Cassiopeia was a very vain woman. Zeus placed him in the sky after his tragic end because he was descended from one of Zeus’ loves, the nymph Io. The constellation represents Cepheus, the king of Ethiopia and Cassiopeia’s husband in Greek mythology. The star names approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are Alderamin, Alfirk, Errai, and Kurhah.Ĭepheus constellation map by IAU and Sky&Telescope magazine Cepheus myth The constellation contains four formally named stars. There are no meteor showers associated with Cepheus. The brightest star in the constellation is Alderamin, Alpha Cephei. The three-letter abbreviation, adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1922, is Cep.Ĭepheus belongs to the Perseus family of constellations, along with Andromeda, Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum.Ĭepheus has one star with known planets and contains no Messier objects. The genitive form of Cepheus, used in star names, is Cephei (pronunciation: /ˈsiːfiaɪ/). In English, the constellation is known as Cepheus or the King. The constellation name Cepheus is pronounced /ˈsiːfiəs/. The neighboring constellations are Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Draco, Lacerta, and Ursa Minor. It is located in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -10°. Facts, location and mapĬepheus is the 27th largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 588 square degrees. The constellation is home to VV Cephei and the Garnet Star (Mu Cephei), both among the largest known stars in the Milky Way, and to several well-known deep sky objects: the Wizard Nebula, the Iris Nebula, the Ghost Nebula, and the Fireworks Galaxy. Like most other constellations in the Perseus family, Cepheus was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It was named after the mythical King Cepheus of Aethiopia, husband of Cassiopeia and father of Andromeda, both represented by neighboring constellations. Cepheus constellation lies in the northern hemisphere.
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