COSMOS / CONSTELLATIONS / CAM
Camelopardalis (Giraffe)
The Giraffe. IAU abbreviation Cam.
STAR CHART
KEY FACTS
- IAU abbreviation
- Cam
- Latin name / genitive
- Camelopardalis / Camelopardalis
- Position
- Right ascension ≈ 5 h 49 m; declination +53° to +86°
- Visibility from Türkiye
- From Ankara most of it never sets (circumpolar); visible all year.
- Best time to observe
- Visible all year; highest at 21:00 Türkiye time around 14 February.
- Number of stars
- 157 stars brighter than magnitude 6.5 in the catalogue; 15 brighter than 5 and 0 brighter than 4.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Where is Camelopardalis tonight?
Seen from Ankara, most of this constellation never sets. Drag the time slider through the night to watch it circle the pole; the “Best night” button jumps to the date when it is highest at 21:00 (around 14 February).
MYTH, HISTORY AND OBSERVING
Plancius introduced this large but faint constellation in 1613 to fill the empty region around the north celestial pole; its Latin name means “camel-leopard”, i.e. giraffe. It contains Kemble’s Cascade, a chain of stars popular in binoculars, and the nearby spiral galaxy IC 342. From Türkiye it never sets.
BRIGHTEST STARS
| Star | Magnitude | Distance (light-years) | Spectral type |
|---|---|---|---|
| β Cam | 4.03 | 872 | G0Ib |
| HIP 16228 | 4.21 | 1,941 | B9Ia |
| α Cam | 4.26 | — | O9.5Ia |
| HIP 17884 | 4.39 | 796 | M1III |
| 7 Cam | 4.43 | 372 | A1V |
| HIP 16281 | 4.55 | 2,509 | A0Ia |
| HIP 33694 | 4.55 | 184 | K4III |
| γ Cam | 4.59 | 359 | A2IVn |
Magnitude: apparent brightness; the smaller the number, the brighter the star. Distances derive from parallax measurements and are uncertain for distant stars. Source: HYG v4.1 star catalogue (CC BY-SA 4.0).
SOURCES
Position, visibility and best observing time were computed approximately for this page from the catalogue stars (Ankara, 39.9° N). The 88 constellations were adopted by the IAU in 1922; their boundaries were drawn by Eugène Delporte in 1930.