Cassiopeia+-+Kaitlin+Seboa

Seboa, Kaitlin

 Astro 10

 Jeff Adkins

 May 2, 2015 **Cassiopeia: **

** The Seated Queen **  The constellation Cassiopeia was one of the 48 constellations listed by Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century (Ridpath). It is one of the 88 modern constellations today and is one of nine circumpolar constellations in the Northern Hemisphere. The constellation was named after the ancient Ethiopian queen Cassiopeia, wife of King Cepheus and mother of Princess Andromeda. In Greek mythology, //Kassiopeia//, was extremely vain and beautiful. She thought herself to be even more beautiful than the Nereids, a group of enchanting sea nymphs who were “divinely radiant in both face and form” (Loggia, 2008). This comment angered the Nereids, especially one that was the wife of Poseidon, the god of seas. Poseidon saw this comment as an exhibition of mortal vanity and declared that Cassiopeia be punished accordingly. He therefore sent a sea serpent, Cetus, to ravage the land and seas of Ethiopia. Desperate for remediation, King Cepheus consulted an oracle and was told that the only way to appease the sea monster was to offer up his daughter Andromeda as sacrifice. Cepheus complied and proceeded to have Andromeda chained to a rock on the coast as an offering to Cetus. To Poseidon’s dismay, an adventurer named Perseus saw Andromeda chained to the rock and saved her from the clutches of Cetus (Ridpath, 1988). Furious with this interception, Poseidon transformed Cassiopeia into a five-star constellation and damned her to sit on her throne while she circulates the north star, spending half the time hung upside-down (Astronomy Trek, 2012).

 Cassiopeia is interpreted by many other cultures including the ancient Chinese, Welsh, and by several North American tribes including the Quileute Tribe of Washington. In ancient China, the 5-star constellation is named after a famous charioteer named Wang Liang who lived in the fifth century B.C who was particularly known for his integrity. In his honor, the Chinese astronomers named the bottom left point of the “M” after Wang Liang, and the rest of the “horses” as Wang Liang Er, Wang Liang San, Wang Liang Si, and Wang Liang Wu or the “second, third, fourth, and fifth stars of Wang Liang” (Tindol, 2014).  In the Welsh ancient mythology, Cassiopeia is known was Llys Don, literally meaning “The Court of Don.” Don refers to Anu, a Welsh or Celtic goddess mother and was the wife of the sun god Belenos. Don is represented as the patroness of springs and fountains and is often interpreted as the fertility goddess of the Earth (The White Goddess, 2015).

 Finally, the Quileute Tribe of Washington have their own take on the constellation Cassiopeia. It is referred to the tale of the Elkskin. Out of a family of five brothers, the four oldest went out elk hunting one autumn and met a large man in their paths after having hiked far into the prairie. The man convinced the four brothers that he could make an elk come along soon, but before he could so, had the brothers trade their finest arrows with him. After taking the four brothers’ good arrows and giving them poorly made ones, the man hid behind the bushes and transformed into a huge elk that charged and attacked all four brothers. When the four brothers did not come home for dinner, the youngest brother went out to look for them. After tracking his brothers, he finally crossed paths with the large man that had murdered his brothers. The large man tried to trick the youngest brother like he did with the older brothers to no avail and left. The boy hid in the bushes and soon the huge elk that had killed the brothers came back. To avenge his brothers, the youngest brother shot four arrows into the elk and skinned it. After having skinned the elk, the youngest brother realized that the skin was too large for him, so he threw the skin into the sky and it became the constellation we know as Cassiopeia. “The five stars are the five holes the youngest brother used to stretch out the skin” (Monroe, 1987).

 Cassiopeia is associated with its five brightest stars, but is actually composed of 53 Bayer stars. The five stars are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon Cassiopeia named in descending order of magnitude or brightness (figure 1). Alpha Cassiopeia (Cas A) is the brightest star in the constellation is also named Schedar, an orange giant whose name translates to “breasts” indicating the location of the queen's heart (Astronomy Trek, 2012). Delta Cassiopeia is actually a binary star system 100 light years away from Earth. Other deep sky objects can be observed in Cassiopeia since it is nestled within the Milky Way Galaxy, visible from Earth with a decent telescope. Cassiopeia contains two supernova remnants, one in Cas A (figure 2) and one referred to as SN 1572, also known was Tycho’s star. The supernova in Cas A is the youngest known remnant of from a supernova explosion in the Milky Way, and is the result of the explosive death of a star that collapsed under the weight of its own gravity (ESA, 2006). Other notable objects in the constellation are the Pacman Nebula and the White Rose Cluster. The Pacman Nebula is the result of the death of a star whose core ran out of fuel and collapsed underneath the weight of its own gravity. This resulted into what is known as an emission nebula. Overall, Cassiopeia has numerous beautiful deep sky objects that is only comparable to the beauty of the queen that which produced this constellation. **Figure 1. Cassiopeia asterism with the names of each star comprising the constellation (Above Top Secret, 2015). **   **Figure 2. Cassiopeia A supernova remnant (Wikipedia). **

**Bibliography ** Astronomy Trek. "Interesting Facts about the Constellation Cassiopeia."//Interesting Facts about the Constellation Cassiopeia//. Astronomy Trek, 2012. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.astronomytrek.com/interesting-facts-about-the-constellation-cassiopeia/>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Cassiopeia (constellation)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr. 2015. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Web. 04 May 2015. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(constellation)#Mythology>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cassiopeia - The Vain Queen, Page 1 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Digital image. //AboveTopSecret.com//. Web. 03 May 2015. <http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1047300/pg1>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cassiopeia A //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Digital image. //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_A>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Cassiopeia Constellation Facts, Mythology, and Stars." //Bright Hub//. Bright Hub Inc, 2012. Web. 04 May 2015. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"><http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/17410.aspx>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Don - Goddess of the Heavens, Air, Sea, and the Moon. - Welsh Goddess."//Don - Goddess of the Heavens, Air, Sea, and the Moon. - Welsh Goddess//. The White Goddess, 2015. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/divinity_of_the_day/welsh/don.asp>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ESA/Hubble Information Centre. "Cassiopeia A: Colorful Aftermath Of A Violent Stellar Death." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 September 2006. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060830075709.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Loggia. "Mythography | The Greek Heroine Cassiopeia in Myth and Art."//Mythography | The Greek Heroine Cassiopeia in Myth and Art//. Loggia.com, 03 May 2015. Web. 03 May 2015. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"><http://www.loggia.com/myth/cassiopeia.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ridpath, Ian. "Ian Ridpath’s Star Tales." //Ian Ridpath’s Star Tales//. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015. <http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/startales1c.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ridpath, Ian, Jean Monroe, and Ray A. Williamson. "Cassiopeia: Mythology of the Northern Sky." //Legends//. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.angelfire.com/space2/cassiopeia/legend.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The StarChild Team, Laura Whitlock, J. D. Myers, and Phil Newman. "Star Art." //StarChild: Multidisciplinary Universe Activities://. NASA, n.d. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/activity/star_art.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tindol, Robert, and Paris Liu. "Wang Liang." //Wang Liang//. Star Date, 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 May 2015. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <http://stardate.org/radio/program/wang-liang>.