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Welcome my name is Janine and in this video we will learn about the
constellation known as Cepheus. Cepheus is represented as a king and
it's an ancient constellation that the Babylonians,
Persians, Egyptians, Chinese, Polynesians, Greeks
and Romans all recognized. The name is from a figure in Greek mythology known
as Cepheus. It was identified as one of Ptolemy's 48 constellations in the
second century, which was the authority in astronomy for
many centuries. It's classified as a circumpolar
constellation and it's located right next to Cassiopeia.
So, when can you see it? Cepheus can be seen
all year round in the Northern Hemisphere. You want to look for a
pentagon shape. The five main stars of Cepheus are of
second and third magnitude. Whenever I'm looking for
Cepheus I try to find Cassiopeia first and then I
know that Cepheus is right next to Cassiopeia.
This is the official star pattern, right here, of Cepheus.
It has kind of some extra lines and stars
here. However, when I see it in the sky this is the pattern that I pick out,
because these are the five main stars of Cepheus.
Sometimes I don't always see the little details, right here,
of this star pattern, but rather I see a pentagon shape in the sky.
Now, let's review the pattern that Cepheus makes across the sky.
Here we have the official star map released by the International
Astronomical Union. You can see all the constellations
that surround Cepheus. So Cassiopeia, here is Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Minor,
and Camelopardalis are all nearby. These are all classified as circumpolar
constellations which means we can see them all year round in the Northern
Hemisphere. Also notice that the stars of Cassiopeia
are of relatively similar magnitude, but the
stars of Cepheus- they're not as bright as
Cassiopeia. So, you want to use Cassiopeia to find
Cepheus in the sky. If we zoom up, here's a little bit more of a
detailed picture of what the pattern looks like.
As I stated before, I often just see the five stars
and I don't always see these other smaller detailed stars.
This, is what the official pattern looks like. I'll point both out to
you as we go. So, here we have Cepheus. This is a great
photograph and it shows you that some of the Milky Way is in the
background of this of this shot and there are some
interesting celestial objects there. But, here is the pattern of Cepheus.
Sometimes my students say it kind of makes like a
house-like shape, but when I see it I
always see these five stars. That's what always stands out to me.
Remember, constellations are man-made patterns. There are official ones that
are labeled by astronomers so we're all on the same page
as everybody is studying them globally. But we'll all see
something a little different. So, here is one
example of the pattern of Cepheus. Here we have a few constellations
in this photograph. The one that stands out to me is
Cassiopeia and she's seated right in the Milky Way. So, here is where
Cassiopeia is. I always say that her angles kind of
open up towards the direction of where Cepheus would be.
So, here's where Cassiopeia is and then this is where
Cepheus is. If you can find Cassiopeia you're likely to find Cepheus
nearby. Just know that Cepheus is slightly more
challenging to find, because its stars are not as bright as Cassiopeia.
We've got another photograph here of both Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Are you
able to find Cassiopeia right within the band of the Milky Way?
Then from there are you able to point out
Cepheus? Here is where Cassiopeia is. Then her angles open up towards
Cepheus right there. If we were to point these out, that's
where Cassiopeia is and this is where Cepheus
Again, I kinda go with my own pattern.
You will see this pattern a lot throughout many other resources, but
I try to always show both the official and what I also see.
Here we have one more photograph of Cepheus-Cassiopeia. This one
also shows us where Ursa Minor is as well. So, first of all, find Cassiopeia
towards the up upper left side of the photograph. That's
where Cassiopeia is. Then Cepheus is nearby right
there. You can use Cassiopeia also to
help you find the North Star. So, if you take that
center star of Cassiopeia and treat it like an arrow, it'll point
towards Polaris which is the star that doesn't
move in our sky and it's part of the constellation
Ursa Minor. Let's get one more photograph to get some practice here.
There's lots going on in this photo. We have the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper,
Cassiopeia, and Cepheus are all in this photograph.
Even a portion of Draco, which are the five main circumpolar
stars. So, the star at the very, very center of
this photograph- that's Polaris the North Star. So from
there, Are you able to point out Ursa Minor right there?
You can also use Ursa Major, or this is the
Big Dipper portion of Ursa Major- use the pointer stars and it points you towards
Polaris. So, if you go over in this direction,
this is where Cassiopeia is. Notice you can use that
center star, acting like an arrow, to point you towards the North Star.
If you know Cassiopeia is here, Cepheus is nearby.
So, let's point everything out here. These are the three main
circumpolar constellations that stand out to me in this photo.
Remember you can use the pointer stars and
that middle star of Cassiopeia to help you find Polaris. Then the other constellations are here. We have Cpheus right here
and then this is the tail of Draco. Draco is a
large constellation that winds itself through the sky. You can find Draco
by locating its tail which is in between the Dippers.
So, use these different strategies to help you find
Cepheus in the sky. Now let's take a look at the celestial objects that sit in the
boundaries of Cepheus. As you look at this star map
notice that the boundaries of Cepheus are quite large, but most
of the celestial objects are concentrated in this
area and there's a reason for that. Cepheus sits within the Milky Way Galaxy
in this arena, so that's why there's lots of celestial objects to see
in this area. If we go back to this map
there, right here, is a star cluster that's visible.
It's located near Polaris, so you if you have a pair of binoculars or telescope
look in this area for this star cluster. Now, if we want to zoom in and take a
look at some of the objects that are here
we have NGC 7822. That's an interesting nebula in this
area. Then there's the Cave Nebula. This is another nebula that has some
really interesting features that are separately
labeled. Then here is another nebula called the Iris Nebula.
So there's also about 10 open clusters in Cepheus but most are of 10th
magnitude, so you would really need something to magnify
them with. There are a few galaxies, but again they're all pretty faint
and magnification would be needed to see all of them.
Let's examine some of the legends behind Cepheus.
It is often the stories of the stars that we can connect to in some way which
can help us remember the constellation. The stories about Cepheus include his
entire family and there are a variety of myths about this pattern of stars.
The legend we will examine is one from a Greek tale,
but remember many of the greek legends were adapted from earlier cultures.
So, in Greek mythology Cepheus was connected with his queen,
Cassiopeia, pictured here, and as well as his daughter,
Andromeda. So, Queen Cassiopeia, who is the, wife of Cepheus, boasted of her beauty
which in turn made the sea nymphs jealous.
Poseidon sent Cetus the sea monster to destroy
their kingdom and their daughter was offered as a sacrifice to that monster
in order to save the kingdom. Perseus, pictured right down here,
heard her cries and she was chained to the rock near the ocean.
He saved her from certain doom. So, all the characters of this story are
located in the sky. We have Cepheus; Cassiopeia; Andromeda, she is
often pictured as chained to a rock; we have Perseus. Cetus is not
located in this picture, but is also a constellation and part of this story.
Here is a painting called the Rescuing of Andromeda and you can see
everyone here in this tale. So, we have Cepheus,
Cassiopeia, Perseus, we even have Pegasus here,
here's Andromeda, and then Cetus the sea monster
is located right here or at least what's left of him.
Remember that the mythologies of the stars vary according to time, place, and
culture. There is no one true mythology for any
constellation, just a variety of them.
We've come to the end of our video about Cepheus so let's review everything we
learned so far. Cepheus is represented as a king and he
can be seen all year round in the Northern
Hemisphere which classifies him as a circumpolar constellation. The best
way to find him is to find the 'W' shaped Cassiopeia
constellation and Ursa Minor which is also known as a
Little Dipper. Cepheus is then in between those two.
There are a variety of celestial objects that sit within the boundaries of
Cepheus. Many of them, such as the open star
clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, all need
magnification in order to be seen. This is one version of what the star
pattern looks like. This is the official star pattern but I
often just see these five stars right here in the
pattern when I'm viewing Cepheus. This is a constellation that took me
some time to find. That's mostly because
some of the stars just weren't as bright as they were in Cassiopeia.
But, I always recommend that you try to find dark skies whenever you're
looking for constellations. Your experience will just be richer when
it comes to looking at the stars. I wish you luck trying to find Cepheus.
Use the strategies that I taught you throughout this video to help you find
it. Good luck and keep looking up!