Facts about Cassiopeia Constellation
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Cassiopeia contains the radio source Cassiopeia A, the remnant of a supernova explosion and one of the brightest radio sources in the sky beyond our solar system.
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Cassiopeia's star Iota Cassiopeiae, located approximately 139 light-years away, is a triple star system with the primary component being a blue giant star roughly 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun.
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Cassiopeia's star Achird, also known as Eta Cassiopeiae B, orbits its primary star Eta Cassiopeiae A every 480 years at a separation of approximately 62 astronomical units.
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Cassiopeia's star Phi Cassiopeiae emits roughly 34,000 times more luminosity than our Sun, making it one of the most intrinsically bright stars visible from Earth's northern hemisphere.
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Rotating rapidly at near its breaking point, Gamma Cassiopeiae spins so fast that its equatorial velocity reaches approximately 472 kilometers per second, causing its equator to bulge outward noticeably.
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Cassiopeia's distinctive W-shaped asterism contains five primary stars that form one of the most recognizable patterns in the northern celestial hemisphere.
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Cassiopeia's star Ruchbah, or Delta Cassiopeiae, experiences eclipses every 759 days as it orbits its binary companion, causing its brightness to fluctuate by approximately 0.2 magnitudes.
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In 1707, Cassiopeia's star Tycho C lay at the center of the supernova remnant later named Tycho's Star, expanding at approximately 5,000 kilometers per second outward.
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Located approximately 555 light-years away, Cassiopeia's variable star Eta Cassiopeiae A represents one of the closest binary star systems visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere.
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A supernova explosion in Cassiopeia during 1572, observed by Tycho Brahe, remained visible to naked eye for sixteen months and outshone all stars.
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The brightest star in Cassiopeia, Scheherazade, shines at magnitude 2.23 and lies approximately 150 light-years from Earth.