Lacerta

Abbreviation:  Lac
English Name:  The Lizard
Genitive: Lacertae
Hemisphere:  Northern Hemisphere
Location: Between the constellations of Cassiopeia and Cygnus.
Visible between latitudes:  +90 and -35 degrees
Best season: October
Seen in three seasons: Summer, Autumn and Winter
Best seen in:  May and February 
Seen between: October
Right Ascension (RA):  22 hour
Declination (DEC):  -45 degrees
Area (square degrees):  201 (68th)

Lacerta (The Lizard)

• A small faint constellation, sometimes referred to as “Little Cassiopeia”.
• Lacerta is typical of Milky Way constellations: no bright galaxies, either no globular clusters, but instead open clusters, for example NGC 7243, the faint planetary nebula IC 5271 and quite a few double stars.

Messier Objects

• No Messier objects in Lacerta.

Features of Interest

• NGC 7243  –  Open Cluster, also known as Caldwell 16 (C16); visible in small telescopes; few dozen “scattered” stars, the brightest of which are of the 8th magnitude, near Alpha Lacertae.

Named Stars

• Alpha Lacertae – blue-white hued; magnitude of +3.8.
• Beta Lacertae – far dimmer; yellow giant of magnitude +4.4.

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Lacerta, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Lacerta
  
• List of stars in Lacerta.

 

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.