A Field Book of the Stars/Cepheus
CEPHEUS (sē'-fūs) (Face North.)
Location.—A line drawn from (α) to (β) Cassiopeiæ and prolonged about 18 degrees strikes (α) Cephi. The nearest bright star west of Polaris is (γ) Cephi. Cepheus is an inconspicuous constellation, lying partly in the Milky Way. A view of this constellation through binoculars will repay the observer. Cepheus is characterized by a rude square, one side of which is the base of an isosceles triangle. Look for the so-called garnet star (μ), probably the reddest star visible to the naked eye in the United States. The star (ζ) has a blue companion star.
(α) forms an equilateral triangle with Polaris and (ε) Cassiopeiæ.
(δ) is a variable double. One of the pair is yellow, the other blue.
It is claimed that Cepheus was known to the Chaldæans twenty-three centuries before our era.
Surrounding δ, ε, ζ, and λ, which mark the king's head, is a vacant space in the Milky Way, similar to the Coal Sack of Cygnus.
