Star constellations: The Nothern Crown
Created | Updated Dec 15, 2005
This entry is part of the h2g2as constellations
project.
There exists an external star chart created for this
entry.
| Latin: | corona borealis |
| genitive: | coronae borealis |
| short form: | CrB |
| area: | 179 square degrees |
| coordinates: | 16h, 30° |
| zodiac: | no |
| origin: | ancient |
The Nothern Crown is a quite small constellation. Typically you see it
during the spring and summer. Its rather characteristic crescent lies between
the Boötes and Hercules. It has a fainter
sibling in the southern hemisphere, the Southern Crown.
The seven major stars of this group form a recognizable crown such as a
princess would wear. According to mythology it once belonged to Ariadne the
daugher of King Minos1. It had
been a gift from Aphrodite. Ariadne was abandoned on the island of Naxos and according to one version along
came the greek god of wine Dionysus who tossed her crown into the heaven to
show off. She was so impressed that she married him.
Gemma is a variable of the Algol type. But the change in brightness
is very small.
T CrB lies a little bit to the south east of ε CrB. At the moment it is only visible with a large
telescope, but be warned: It's a nova, so it can have an eruption anytime. The
last eruptions were in 1866 and 1946. Then it has a magnitude of
2m, and is thus brighter than Gemma.
The Nothern Crown includes a minor cluster of galaxies which average
1.2 × 109 light years away. This is very much: The
nearest galaxy cluster, the Virgo cluster, has a distance of about
0.05 × 109 light years.
Stars, Clusters, and Nebulae
| Star | Name | Brightness (m) | Distance (light years) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| α CrB | Gemma (gem), Alphecca, Alphekkai (beggar's bowl) | 2.3 | 75 | v |
| β CrB | Nusakan | 3.7 | 114 | |
| γ CrB | 3.8 | 145 | v | |
| δ CrB | 4.6 | 165 | v | |
| ε CrB | 4.1 | 230 | ||
| ζ CrB | 4.6 | 473 | d | |
| θ CrB | 4.1 | 311 | ||
| ρ CrB | 5.4 | 57 | has a planet |
