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Cassiopeia is a northern constellation representing the legendary queen of EthiopiaThe Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ityop'iya Amharic ) is a country of northeastern Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation in the continent. Unique among African countries, the Ethiopian monarchy maintai CassiopeiaCassiopeia is a northern constellation representing the legendary queen of Ethiopia. See Cassiopeia (constellation). Cassiopeia or Casseipeia (" cassia juice") was a Greek mythological queen of Ethiopia, who was the wife of Cepheus and the mother of Andro, who was the wife of CepheusThis article is about the mythical character. Cepheus (constellation) is also one of the 88 modern constellations. Cepheus ( Greek:"gardener") was a Greek mythological character, king of Ethiopia, who was the husband of Cassiopeia and the father of Androm and the mother of AndromedaIn Greek mythology, Andromeda ("ruler of men") was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of the Ethiopians. Cassiopeia, having boasted herself equal in beauty to the Nereids, drew down the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on. It is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 listed by PtolemyThis article is about the geographer and astronomer Ptolemy. For Alexander the Great's general, see Ptolemy I of Egypt. For others, see Ptolemy (disambiguation). Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: Klaudios Ptolemaios; A. circa 85 circa 165), known in English as.

Notable features

Five of the stars of Cassiopeia form a W/Σ/M shape (depending on its position in the sky), which is one of the most distinctive patterns in the northern sky. Since it is close to the north celestial pole, it remains in the sky all night long in most northern countries.

It is frequently used as a rough indicator of sidereal timeSidereal time is time reckoned by sidereal days and is the time elapsed since a transit of the vernal equinox; this is, strictly, apparent sidereal time''. Mean sidereal time is reckoned not from the actual transit of the vernal equinox, but rather from t; the leading bright star of the W, β Cassiopeiae , called Caph, lies almost at zero hours right ascension and hence a line drawn through PolarisPolaris Alpha Ursae Minoris, is the bright star closest to the north celestial pole, making it the current north pole star. It is also known as the North Star the Lode Star or the Pole star . Because it lies nearly in a direct line with the axis of the Ea and β Cassiopeiae must pass close to the vernal equinoxIn astronomy, the vernal equinox spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox is the equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. The equinox occur. The hour angle of this line must be equal to sidereal time. Hence, when β Cassiopeiae is on the meridian directly above the pole the sidereal time is zero, when on the meridian directly below the pole the sidereal time is 12 hours, etc.

γ Cassiopeiae is a peculiar variable star. The brightness varies from 1.6 to 3 magnitudes. γ Cassiopeiae is assumed to be a binary star containing a Be star and a neutron star. It is the brightest X-ray binary on the sky, no other X-ray binaries can be seen with naked eye.

Cassiopeia was the site of Tycho Brahe's supernova of 1572, and is also the location of Cassiopeia A, the strongest radio source in the sky (other than the sun). Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a supernova which apparently occurred in about 1667, although there is no record of it having been observed.

If we were to observe Earth's Sun from Alpha Centauri, it would appear to be in Cassiopeia.