Corona Borealis Constellation: The Ultimate Guide
Corona Borealis (Northern Crown)
Corona Borealis is a constellation located in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. The constellation's name comes from Latin and means "crown of the north."
Corona Borealis's constellation is near the north pole, visible in all northern countries and most southern regions.
Corona Borealis is a small constellation with faint stars that lies between the constellations Bootes and Hercules.
Corona Borealis' brightest star is Alphecca, also known as α Coronae Borealis (α CrB), with an apparent magnitude of 2.21.
Being one of the minor constellations, Corona Borealis has few deep-sky objects.
Corona Borealis is one of the few constellations with an associated meteor shower.
The Mythology And History Of The Corona Borealis Constellation
Ancient China
According to the record or names of stars, in ancient Chinese astronomy, the region that currently belongs to the constellation Corona Borealis had the reputation of 北冕座 (běi miǎn zuò), which means "the constellation of the northern crown."
In astronomy literature China běi miǎn zuò belongs to one of the three enclosures (三垣, Sān Yuán), specifically to the Celestial Market Enclosure.
Greek Mythology
TIn Greek mythology, the Crown belongs to Princess Ariadne, daughter of the Cretan king Minos.
In the myth, Ariadne would not accept Dionysus' marriage proposal. She believed that Dionysus was a mere mortal and did not wish to marry a human after being abandoned by Theseus, the king of Athens.
Dionysus took off his Crown and threw it into heaven to prove his immortality. Ariadne was pleased and agreed to marry him to become immortal.
Early Modern Period
In 1730 the writer Corbinianus Thomas renamed the Firmaian Crown's constellation after the Archbishop of Salzburg in the Atlas Mercurii Philosophicii Firmamentu Firminianum Description.
However, this name did not become popular, and soon cartographers took the original name Corona Borealis.
Nowadays
Since its official introduction to the constellations of the celestial map by the International Astronomical Union, the constellation Corona Borealis has not changed its name, nor in its limits.
Currently, the constellation covers an area of 179 square degrees of the sky. It ranks 73rd in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky, one of the ten most minor constellations.
How To Find The Corona Borealis Constellation?
Visibility By Region
Corona Borealis's constellation resides in the third quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ3), at latitudes between 50° S and 90° N, which means we can see the constellation in the night sky in every country in the world, the only exception being Antarctica.
Corona Borealis is visible in countries such as the USA, Europe, Russia, China, and Japan in the northern hemisphere.
Coma Berenices is visible in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere.
Visibility By Season
Corona Borealis is a constellation close to the north pole. It is visible all year round to the northern hemisphere countries; however, July is the best month to see the Corona Borealis.
For the Southern Hemisphere countries, a part of the constellation ceases to be visible in summer.
Finding Corona Borealis Constellation
To locate the constellation Corona Borealis, you must look north of the celestial vault.
Corona Borealis is a small and faint constellation; it is complicated to see with the naked eye in skies with a lot of light pollution.
The best way to locate it is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the star Izar of the constellation Bootes to the zeta star Herculis of the constellation Hercules. The Corona Borealis is located right in the middle of the two.
Related Constellations
The constellations bordering Corona Borealis are Bootes, Hercules, and Serpens.
In addition, Corona Borealis belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations; these include the constellations Coma Berenices, Bootes, Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor.
Stars in Corona Borealis Constellation
Officially Corona Borealis has 37 stars. Seven forms the figure of the Crown; these stars are Alphecca, Nusakan, Gamma Corona Borealis, Epsilon Corona Borealis, Theta Corona Borealis, Delta Corona Borealis, and Iota Corona Borealis.
α Coronae Borealis (Alphecca / α CrB / 5 Coronae Borealis)
With an apparent magnitude of +2.23 and located at 75 light-years from Earth, Alphecca is the brightest star in CoronaBorealis's constellation.
It is a binary star whose main component is a white star of the primary sequence of spectral type A0V, and the second star orbiting the first is a yellow dwarf.
β Coronae Borealis (Nusakan / β CrB / 3 Coronae Borealis)
Located 114 light-years from Earth, Nukasan is the second brightest star in Corona Borealis's constellation with an apparent magnitude of +3.66.
Other Corona Borealis Stars:
- γ Coronae Borealis: Also a binary star located 145 light-years away.
- δ Coronae Borealis: Yellow star located 165 light-years away.
- ε Coronae Borealis: An orange giant of magnitude 4.14 to 221 light-years.
- η Coronae Borealis: A triple star system consisting of two yellow Sun-like dwarfs and a brown dwarf.
- θ Coronae Borealis: Binary star of magnitude 4.14.
- ι Coronae Borealis: Spectroscopic binary.
- κ Coronae Borealis: Orange subgiant of magnitude 4.82 with an exoplanet.
- ν Coronae Borealis: Binary star formed by two red-orange giants.
- ο Coronae Borealis: An orange giant with an exoplanet.
- ξ Coronae Borealis: An orange giant of magnitude 4.86.
- π Coronae Borealis: Yellow-orange giant of magnitude 5.58.
- ρ Coronae Borealis: A sun-like star of magnitude 5.39.
- σ Coronae Borealis: A three-dimensional star system at 71 light-years.
- τ Coronae Borealis: An orange giant of magnitude 4.76.
Deep Sky Objects
Corona Borealis is a small constellation because it has very few deep-sky objects visible with amateur telescopes; Only the most powerful telescopes can study them.; some of them are:
- Corona Borealis Supercluster: It is a very dense and compact supercluster of stars compared to other superclusters; according to estimates, it can contain a mass of between 0.6 and 12 × ten 16solar masses (M⊙), that is, it contains billions of stars, and in turn also with it has other galaxy clusters such as Abell 2056, Abell 2061, Abell 2065.
- Abell 2065: Galaxy cluster containing about 400 galaxies.
- Abell 2142: Galaxy cluster, luminous in the X-ray region, results from merging two galaxy clusters.
Conclusions
Corona Borealis is a constellation of the northern celestial hemisphere; its name comes from Latin and means "crown of the north."
Although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, the constellation Corona Borealis can be observed from all countries in the world except Antarctica.
The best month to see the constellation Corona Borealis is May.
Corona Borealis' brightest star is Alphecca, also known as α Coronae Borealis (α CrB), with an apparent magnitude of 2.21.
The best way to locate it is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the star Izar of the constellation Bootes to the zeta star Herculis of the constellation Hercules. The Corona Borealis is located right in the middle of the two.
Corona Borealis' most remarkable deep-sky body is Corona Borealis Supercluster, which contains hundreds of galaxies.
Corona Borealis is one of the few constellations with an associated meteor shower.
Sources Of Information:
- http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-corona-borealis.html
- https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/corona-borealis-constellation/
- https://nineplanets.org/corona-borealis-constellation/
- https://earthsky.org/search/corona+borealis+constellation
- https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/coronaborealis