Camelopardalis: The Giraffe

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Camelopardalis, The Camel — Camelopardalis as depicted by Johannes Hevelius in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (1687). Source image provided by www.RareMaps.com — Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.

Camelopardalis Constellation Profile
Abbreviation: Cam	Genitive: Camelopardalis
Origin: Plancius	Location: Northern Hemisphere
Best View (North): Winter	Best View (South):
Bordering Constellations: Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, Lynx, Ursa Major

The Myth Behind the Constellation Camelopardalis

Camelopardalis, Latin for “the giraffe”, was invented by Dutchman Petrus Plancius in 1612. To the ancient Greeks, a giraffe was a “camel-leopard” because it had the head of a camel and the spots of a leopard. Jacob Bartsch, in 1624, included this constellation on his star maps and wrote that it represented the camel Rebecca rode to Jacob.

Camelopardalis Constellation Points of Interest

Interesting stars and objects.

Bright Stars in Camelopardalis

There are no stars in Camelopardaliss with a magnitude of 3.0 or brighter.