ROUTE 3 - Cassiopeia to Aries

Question 1

CASSIOPEIA

1. How to locate Cassiopeia?
2. What’s the constellation’s shape?
3. in Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was queen of which country?
4. Who did Cassiopeia irritate with her vanity?
5. What monster, sent by Poseidon, destroyed her kingdom?

Answer 1

1. from the side of the pan opposite the handle, extend the side through Polaris and about the same distance to reach Cassiopeia
2. a W
3. Ethiopia
4. the Nereids
5. Cetus

Question 2

CEPHEUS

1. How to find Cepheus?
2. Who was Cepheus?

Answer 2

1. close, right, and slightly about the W of Cassiopeia - looks like a house with a pointy roof
2. In Greek mythology, Cepheus was the king of Ethiopia and the husband of Cassiopeia

Question 3

PERSEUS

1. How to find it?
2. Who’s Perseus?

Answer 3

1. just to the left, and slightly below the W of Cassiopeia
2. In Greek mythology he decapitates Medusa, the gorgon

Andromeda’s hero

On his return from defeating Medusa, Perseus saw Princess Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. He killed the monster and freed Andromeda, taking her as his bride. They lie side by side in the sky.

Question 4

ANDROMEDA constellation

1. How to find Andromeda?
2. Which star is the top of Andromeda’s head?
3. Why does she have a super long arm?

Answer 4

1. just below and slightly to the right of Perseus
2. Alpheratz
3. she doesn’t - the arm is extended by the chain to which she was shackled, to be sacrificed to the monster Cetus

About Andromeda:

Andromeda is a mythical princess, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia. When their kingdom was ravaged by the sea monster Cetus, the king and queen were ordered by the gods to sacrifice their daughter to appease the beast.

Question 5

ANDROMEDA GALAXY
Where is it in the Andromeda constellation?

Answer 5

at the right knee of the falling princess - see pic.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy visible in the constellation Andromeda. It is the nearest and brightest spiral galaxy to our own, the Milky Way, and looks like a smudge when seen from a dark-sky location. At 2.5 million light-years away, it is the most distant object that can be seen
with the naked eye.

Question 6

PEGASUS CONSTELLATION
Where is it?

Answer 6

just below right of the Andromeda constellation:
the head of princess Andromeda is the top left corner of Pegasus’ Great Square.

Pegasus is completely upside down, even more than Andromeda. Right of the big square, those three lines coming out of it: the lowest one is the head; the upper two are the winged horse forelegs - yup, takes some imagination.

As a structure within a constellation, the prominent Great Square of Pegasus is classed as an ASTERISM.

Question 7

STEPHAN’S QUINTET

(not visible to the naked eye)

Answer 7

From top right corner of the Great Square of Pegasus there’s a bright star that roughly extends the diagonal of the right corner; just above that lies Stephan’s Quintet.

The first compact group of galaxies discovered, Stephan’s Quintet includes five galaxies. Four of the galaxies lie very near each other in space, while the bluish one at the top of the image is actually much closer to Earth. The two galaxies in the center are passing through each other.

Question 8

ARIES CONSTELLATION

Answer 8

The Aries constellation is to the left of the Andromeda constellation, about two Great Squares away.

The three stars of Aries closest to Pegasus are the Ram’s head.

Question 9

REVIEW OF ROUTE 3

Answer 9

When you look at all of the constellations of route three, you can see that they are closely grouped together.

Look for them during fall months when they lie high in the sky.

You will be able to see some of them at other times of the year too.

Question 10

ROUTE 3 QUIZZ

Answer 10