CAMELOPARDALIS

The Giraffe

Camelopardalis (also Camelopardus) is a modern constellation, named by Jacob Bartsch in 1624. Something was needed to fill in the space between the queen Cassiopeia, and the great bear, Ursa Major. It was a space with only a few dim stars that did not inspire any particular form, so he used the shape of the space itself, which suggested the figure of a giraffe. He used the Greek name for giraffe, which literally means leopard camel. Camelopardalis hugs the north celestial pole, keeping watch over the north star, Polaris, and harbouring some interesting deep sky objects.

IC 342

IC 342 (Caldwell 5) is a large spiral galaxy easily visible in binoculars or a small telescope. It is about 11 milliion light years away with a magnitude of 9.1.

IC 342 - NASA's NuSTAR Space Telescope - January, 2013

NGC 2403

NGC 2403 is another large spiral galaxy discovered by William Herschel in 1788. With a magnitude of 8.4, and 17.8 arc minutes wide, it is easily visible in binoculars. The galaxy is 37,000 light years in diameter, and twelve million light years away.

NGC 2403 - Spiral Galaxy - Fred Calvert/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

NGC 2655

With a magnitude of 10.9 and only 4.9 arc minutes wide, the spiral galaxy NGC 2655 does not appear as large and bright as NGC 2403, but it is still visible - just barely - in large binoculars on a dark night. In small telescopes it is characterized by a bright central core, surrounded by a soft, indistinct halo. Larger telescopes reveal faint wispy spiral arms. The galaxy is 220,000 light years in diameter, and 71 million light years away.

NGC 1501

NGC 1501 is a planetary nebula. Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets, and are so named because of their historically round, planetary appearance in early telescopes. The nebula is a small, faint object, less than one arc minute in size, with a central star of magnitude 14. It is 5,000 light years away.

NGC 1502

NGC 1502 is an open star cluster. It contains approximately 45 stars at a distance of 2,700 light years, and is a fine sight for small telescopes, considered by many to be the finest sight in the entire constellation. The star cluster is made even more notable by Kemble's Cascade, pictured below in a photo by Walter MacDonald. This is a "waterfall" of about twenty magnitude nine stars that "cascades" into the sparkling "pool" of NGC 1502. Kemble's Cascade is named for the famed Canadian astronomer, Father Lucian Kemble.

Kemble's Cascade - Walter MacDonald - (used with permission)

Extrasolar Planets

There are two stars with planetary systems discovered so far in Camelopardalis, and both of these stars are visible with the naked eye. The brightest of these stars is HD 33564, with a magnitude of 5.08, 64 light years away. HD 32518 is much fainter, with a magnitude of 6.44, and much farther at a distance of 381 light years. For more information visit NASA's New World's Atlas.

Alphabetical Links to the Constellations

ANDROMEDA AQUARIUS AQUILA ARIES AURIGA BOOTES CAMELOPARDALIS CANCER CANES VENATICI CANIS MAJOR CANIS MINOR CAPRICORNUS CARINA CASSIOPEIA CENTAURUS CEPHEUS CETUS COLUMBA COMA BERENICES CORONA AUSTRALIS CORONA BOREALIS CORVUS CRATER CRUX CYGNUS DELPHINUS DORADO DRACO EQUULEUS ERIDANUS FORNAX GEMINI HERCULES HYDRA LACERTA LEO LEO MINOR LEPUS LIBRA LUPUS LYNX LYRA MONOCEROS OPHIUCHUS ORION PEGASUS PERSEUS PISCES PISCIS AUSTRALIS PUPPIS SAGITTA SAGITTARIUS SCORPIUS SCULPTOR SCUTUM SERPENS SEXTANS TAURUS TUCANA URSA MAJOR URSA MINOR VELA VIRGO VULPECULA