Cassiopeia

(Picture from [] ©2009 About.com, a part of [|The New York Times Company] )  **__Introduction__** In the picture above, you can see the constellation called Cassiopeia, Caph (Arabic), the Yamagata Star or Ikari Star (Japanese), or Cas (shortened). Cassiopeia was first viewed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy and put in a list of 48 other constellations. It is a northern hemisphere seasonal constellation and is best seen in the winter.

Cassiopeia was a queen, married to king Cepheus. They had a daughter named Andromeda, and Cassiopeia would always brag about her own and her daughter's ceaseless beauty. The Nereids, who were sea nymphs, heard Cassiopeia's bragging. They complained to their god Poseidon about it, and Poseidon was angry. He sent Cetus (a monster in the form of a whale) to the land of Cepheus to destroy everything. Cassiopeia and Cepheus had offered Adromeda as a sacrifice. Perseus saved Andromeda just before Cetus ate her. They are all found in constellations.
 * __History__**

__**Stars**__ The stars that make up Cassiopeia are Shedir, Gamma Cassipeiae, Eta Cas, and Rho Cassiopeiae. (Picture from [] Science and Art Products - Malibu, CA)

__**Bibliography**__ [] (Last modified September 2000) [] [] [|http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Cassiopeia_(constellation]) (AbsoluteAstronomy.com © 2009)