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| English name | Camelopard or Giraffe | ||||
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| Major stars | No star of the constellation exceeds the magnitude 3,5. | ||||
| Description | Circumpolar constellation, ample but little evident: its brightest stars are of fourth magnitude. It is to the north of Auriga and of Perseus, beside Cassiopeia. The brightest star of the constellation, beta Camelopardalis, is a yellow supergiant: seen with a small telescope, it shows to have a companion of ninth magnitude. Other interesting objects are NGC 1502, a small open cluster composed by about fifteen stars, and NGC 2403, a spiral galaxy visible with good binoculars. |
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| Mythology and history | This constellation was invented by the Dutch astronomer and theologian Petrus Plancius in 1613. The giraffe represents the animal ridden by Rebecca to go to Canaan and marry Isaac. | ||||
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