Wander the Queen’s starry court

Cassiopeia and its distinctive W-shaped asterism rise above the erupting volcano Mount Etna on the island of Sicily, Italy. Credit: Giovanni Tumino

Cassiopeia (pronounced kass ee oh pee’ uh) the Queen is one of the first constellations amateur astronomers come to recognize. That’s because its five brightest stars form an asterism that looks like a large letter W.

Cassiopeia is observable in the autumn and winter throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It lies opposite the Sun in early October. And if your location on Earth is at 46° north latitude or higher, this constellation is circumpolar, meaning that it will never set.