Lacerta

Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name comes from the Latin word for lizard. This constellation was created in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Lacerta is small and not very bright, but it has a special shape. The brightest stars in Lacerta make a “W” pattern, just like the famous constellation Cassiopeia. Because of this, some people call Lacerta “Little Cassiopeia.”

You can find Lacerta in the night sky between three other well-known constellations: Cygnus, Cassiopeia, and Andromeda. It is located in the northern part of the celestial sphere. Some of Lacerta’s stars are actually part of the Milky Way, the galaxy we live in. This makes Lacerta an interesting area to explore for stargazers and astronomers.

Features

Lacerta is a small and faint constellation in the Milky Way. It doesn’t have any bright galaxies or globular clusters, but it does contain some interesting things like open clusters. One of these is NGC 7243, a group of stars that can be seen with small telescopes.

The constellation also has some special stars. Alpha Lacertae is a blue-white star that can be seen with the naked eye. There are also stars that change in brightness, like EV Lacertae, which can sometimes flare up very brightly. One of its stars, BL Lacertae, is the namesake for a special kind of very bright and active object in space called a blazar.

History

Lacerta is a small and faint constellation that was not recognized by ancient Western astronomers because it lacks bright stars. In 1687, the astronomer Johannes Hevelius created this constellation and originally named it "Stellio," after a type of lizard with star-like spots found around the Mediterranean.

Other astronomers also tried to name this part of the sky. Augustin Royer called it Sceptrum et Manus Iustitiae to honor Louis XIV, and Johann Elert Bode named it Frederici Honores for Frederick the Great. However, these names are no longer used today, and Lacerta remains the official name.

Equivalents

The stars of Lacerta were not part of ancient star charts from Europe and the Near East. However, early Chinese astronomers grouped these stars, along with some from the nearby constellation Cygnus, into what they called the "Flying serpent." The Chumash people from California also referred to this area of the sky as 'Lizard' and included it in several of their stories.

Namesakes

The United States Navy had a ship named USS Lacerta (AKA-29). This ship was an attack cargo ship and was named after the Lacerta constellation.