Lacerta

Also known as Lac, Lacertae, Little Cassiopeia

Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard. A small, faint constellation, it was defined in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its brightest stars form a "W" shape similar to that of Cassiopeia, and it is thus sometimes referred to as 'Little Cassiopeia'. It is located between Cygnus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda on the northern celestial sphere. The northern part lies on the Milky Way.

AI overview

Lacerta is a small, faint constellation in the northern sky whose name means "lizard" in Latin, created by astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687 and now recognized as one of the 88 official constellations. It matters as a navigational reference point in the night sky, located between the constellations Cygnus, Cassiopeia, and Andromeda, with its brightest stars forming a distinctive "W" shape.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Constellation.name: Lacerta
Constellation.abbreviation: Lac
Constellation.genitive: Lacertae
Constellation.pronounce: ,genitive
Constellation.symbolism: the Lizard
Constellation.family: Perseus
Constellation.quadrant: NQ4
Constellation.areatotal: 201
Constellation.arearank: 68th
Constellation.numbermainstars: 5
Constellation.numberbfstars: 17
Constellation.numberbrightstars: 0
Constellation.numbernearbystars: 1
Constellation.brighteststarname: α Lac (Stellio)
Constellation.starmagnitude: 3.76
Constellation.neareststarname: EV Lac
Constellation.stardistancely: 16.48
Constellation.stardistancepc: 5.05

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: Lacerta
Area: 201
Image: LacertaCC.jpg

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Commons category: Lacerta (constellation)
Commons gallery: Lacerta (constellation)
short name: Lac
time of discovery or invention: 1687-00-00

Sources (5)

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Article

10 sections

Contents

Features
Stars
Deep-sky objects
History
Equivalents
Namesakes
See also
References
Sources
External links

== Features == thumb|left|200px|The constellation Lacerta as it can be seen by the naked eye. Lacerta is typical of Milky Way constellations: no bright galaxies, nor globular clusters, but instead open clusters, for example NGC 7243, the faint planetary nebula IC 5217 and quite a few double stars. It also contains the prototypic blazar BL Lacertae. Lacerta contains no Messier objects.