Facts about Serpens Constellation

1. 07

   In 1604, Johannes Kepler observed a supernova within Serpens Cauda that briefly reached magnitude -2.5, making it visible in daylight for several weeks.

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2. 06

   Serpens contains the open star cluster NGC 6604, which houses approximately 20 young, massive stars formed within the last few million years.

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3. 05

   Beta Serpentis, located in Serpens Caput, is a binary star system with components separated by approximately 3.7 arcseconds, resolvable through amateur telescopes.

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4. 04

   Eagle Nebula's stellar nursery within Serpens Cauda contains the famous Pillars of Creation, three giant clouds of gas and dust discovered in Hubble Space Telescope images from 1995.

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5. 03

   Serpens, spanning 637 square degrees across the celestial sphere, ranks as the 23rd largest constellation despite being split into two separate regions by Ophiuchus.

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6. 02

   Messier 5, a globular cluster within Serpens Cauda, contains approximately 500,000 stars and ranks among the brightest globular clusters visible from Earth.

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7. 01

   The brightest star in Serpens Caput, Alpha Serpentis, shines at magnitude 2.65 and lies approximately 73 light-years from Earth.

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