![]() ![]() Upon Cassiopeia’s death, Poseidon placed her in the stars, where she was chained to her throne and must spend half of the year upside-down as further punishment. Just as Cetus approached to claim his sacrifice, Perseus, returning from his slaying of Medusa, saw the beautiful Andromeda, and saved her from the beast. The only way to stop the destruction was to sacrifice their daughter Andromeda to the monster, so they chained her to a rock on the shore. The plane of the Milky Way runs through the middle of the 'W' asterism, making it a particularly rich area of the sky to view. It is highest in the sky at midnight in the months around September. As punishment for this affront, Poseidon sent a sea monster Cetus to destroy Aethiopia. Cassiopeia is one of the most recognisable of the constellations, a distinctive 'W' shape in the far northern sky. The only way to stop it was to sacrifice their daughter. Cassiopeia was vain and boastful causing a sea monster to come to the coast of their kingdom. It is named after Cassiopeia, a queen in Greek mythology who was married to Cepheus, which is a neighboring constellation. Her pride got the best of her when she bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, part of Poseidon’s retinue. This constellation is easy to spot due to it’s ‘W’ shape. The Myth Behind the Constellation CassiopeiaĬassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus of Aethiopia. Because the constellation is in a circumpolar position (meaning that it seems to revolve centered around the pole star, Polaris), Cassiopeia is at times suspended upside down in the sky in a very undignified position.Bordering Constellations: Cepheus, Lacerta, Andromeda, Perseus, Camelopardalis As a punishment for her treachery, her constellation (a zig-zag shape like an "M" or "W") is supposed to represent Cassiopeia either chained to her throne (in an ironic reference to her daughter's ordeal) or stuffed into a basket. Poseidon is supposed to have set images of Cepheus and Cassiopeia in the sky. He picked up Medusa's head (which he was bringing back as proof that he killed her) and when his attackers looked at it, they turned to stone. Ruchbah lies at a distance of 99.4 light years from Earth. With an apparent magnitude of 2.68, it is the fourth brightest star in Cassiopeia, after Gamma Cassiopeiae, Schedar and Caph. Perseus fought off a number of them but was greatly outnumbered. Ruchbah, Delta Cassiopeiae ( Cas) is an eclipsing binary star system located in the constellation Cassiopeia. In some versions of the myth, Cassiopeia summoned Agenor, who rushed into the wedding party with armed men. Johannes Hevelius' Cassiopeia from Uranographia (1690)Īndromeda wanted to keep their promise and insisted that the wedding be held immediately. They had already agreed to marry her to Cephus's uncle (his father's twin brother Agenor), and once she had been rescued, they tried to break their promise to Perseus. Cepheus and Cassiopeia agreed reluctantly. Perseus offered to kill the sea monster and rescue Andromeda in return for her hand in marriage. Perseus was returning from carrying out his oath to kill the Gorgon, Medusa. She was rescued by the hero Perseus who had seen her chained to the cliff and had fallen instantly in love with her. Andromeda was chained to a sea cliff to be eaten by the monster. Cassiopeia's husband, King Cepheus consulted an oracle, who told him that the only way to appease Poseidon and stop the monster was to sacrifice Andromeda. Poseidon sent a flood carrying a sea monster to destroy the kingdom. The Nereids begged Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia. Thetis, and Poseidon's wife Amphitrite (an alternate sea goddess), were also Nereids, so Cassiopeia's boast was an insult to the gods. ![]() She boasted that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than the Nereids, the 50 sea nymph attendants of Thetis, the sea goddess, and Poseidon, the sea god. The story behind the name: Cassiopeia is named after the queen of a country on the northern coast of Africa, Aethiopia (not modern Ethiopia). ![]()
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