Lacerta Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Because Lacerta was not considered a constellation by ancient Western astronomers, it has no associated myths or histories.

Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius introduced the constellation Lacerta in 1687 to his celestial maps and initially called it "Stellio" (the stellion), a star-shaped spotted lizard on its back that lies along the Mediterranean coast.

Later other astronomers of the time assigned it different names. Still, the name provided by Hevelius better reflected the shape of the constellation, so this name was the one that prevailed to this day.

Currently, Lacerta is one of the minor constellations of all, occupying the 68th place in size concerning the 88 constellations of the night sky that have been made official by the International Astronomical Union.

The constellation of Lacerta resides in the fourth quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere (NQ4), at latitudes between 40° S and 90° N, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky in all countries of the world, the only exception being Antarctica.

Lacerta is visible in the USA, Europe, Russia, Asia, China, and Japan in the northern hemisphere.

In the south, Lacerta is visible in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand in the south.

Lacerta is a constellation close to the north pole, so it is visible throughout the year for the northern hemisphere countries; even so, the best time to see it is in October.

For the southern hemisphere countries, a section of the constellation is no longer seen in spring.

To locate the constellation Lacerta, you must look to the north of the celestial vault.

Lacerta is a small constellation with very faint stars, so you will probably have to use binoculars to find it if you live in an urban area with light pollution around you.

In terms of navigation, the best way to find the constellation Lacerta is to draw an imaginary line from the star Deneb of the constellation Cygnus to the star Mirach of the constellation Andromeda. Lacerta is located right in the middle of the road between the two.

The constellations bordering Lacerta are Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, and Pegasus.

In addition, the constellation Lacerta belongs to the family of constellations of Perseus; these include Andromeda, Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum.

Officially Lacerta has 68 stars, of which 6 are part of the central figure of the lizard; these are Alpha Lacertae, Beta Lacertae, 1 Lacertae, 5 Lacertae, 2 Lacertae and 4 Lacertae.

Alpha Lacerta is the brightest star in the constellation Lacerta, with an apparent magnitude of +3.76. It is 102 light-years away from the Solar System.

It is a star with characteristics very similar to the famous Sirius star.

It is a giant star or luminous orange giant of spectral type K3II-III, with a visual magnitude of +4.13; it is the second brightest star in the constellation Lacerta.

It is at a distance of approximately 627 light-years from the Solar System.

5 Lacertae is a star system composed of a red giant and a hot start. It is the third brightest star in the constellation, with an apparent magnitude of 4.34.

Lacerta is also home to deep sky objects. Deep-sky objects are celestial bodies different from stars, such as nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies) or galaxies.

In the case of Lacerta, it only has five identifiable deep-sky bodies; these are:

• Galaxy BL Lacertae: It is a prototype of galaxies (BL Lac objects) that emit a large amount of energy; it is not visible with amateur telescopes since it has a magnitude of 13.
• Open cluster NGC 7209:Located 2900 light-years from our solar system, it is about 300 million years old and has an apparent magnitude of 6.7.
• Open cluster NGC 7243: With a magnitude of 6.4, it is 2900 light-years away.
• NGC 7250: It is an irregular galaxy.
• NGC 7265: Elliptical galaxy of magnitude 12.2.

• Lacerta is a constellation of the north celestial hemispheric; it is Latin "Stellio" and lizard.
• Although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, Lacerta is seen from all countries globally, the only exception being Antarctica.
• The best month to see the constellation Lacerta is in October.
• Lacerta's brightest star is Alpha Lacertae (α Lac/7 Lacertae)which has a magnitude of +3.76.
• The best way to find the constellation Lacerta is to draw an imaginary line from the star Deneb of the constellation Cygnus to the star Mirach of the constellation Andromeda. Lacerta is located right in the middle of the road between the two.
• There are no showers of stars associated with the constellation Lacerta.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/lacerta-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-lacerta.html
3. https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/lacerta-constellation
4. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/lacerta
5. https://theplanets.org/constellations/lacerta-constellation/