Corona Borealis is a constellation in the northern sky. Its name means “the northern crown” in Latin.
Corona Borealis is a small but recognizable constellation with only four stars brighter than magnitude 3.00. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. At the time, it was known simply as Corona. The Greeks saw the constellation representing the southern crown, Corona Australis, as a wreath.
Corona Borealis lies between the constellations Boötes and Hercules and represents the crown of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos in Greek mythology, who helped the hero Theseus kill the Minotaur and find his way out of the labyrinth in which the creature lived. In Celtic mythology, Corona Borealis is known as Caer Arianrhod, or the Castle of Arianrhod, the place where the mythical Lady Arianrhod lived.
Corona Borealis contains the famous Blaze Star (T Coronae Borealis), a recurrent nova, and the Fade-Out Star (R Coronae Borealis), but does not have any bright deep sky objects. The Corona Borealis Galaxy Cluster (Abell 2065) does not contain any galaxies brighter than 16th magnitude.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Corona Borealis is the 73rd constellation in size, occupying an area of 179 square degrees. It lies in the third quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -50°. The neighboring constellations are Boötes, Hercules, and Serpens Caput.
Corona Borealis belongs to the Ursa Major family of constellations, along with Coma Berenices, Boötes, Camelopardalis, Canes Venatici, Draco, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Corona Borealis has four stars with known planets and contains no Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is Alphecca (or Gemma, Alpha Coronae Borealis). There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
MYTH
Corona Borealis is associated with the myth of Princess Ariadne of Crete, most famous for her part in helping the Greek hero Theseus defeat the Minotaur, the creature with a human body and head of a bull that lived in a labyrinth designed by Daedalus. In the myth, Ariadne married the god Dionysus. The circlet of stars in the constellation Corona Borealis represents the crown made by the god Hephaestus that she wore on her wedding day.
The Minotaur was in fact Ariadne’s half-brother: according to the legend, her mother Pasiphae gave birth to the creature after copulating with one of King Minos’ bulls. The king had the Minotaur locked inside the labyrinth to hide the family secret. The labyrinth was designed in such a way that no one, not even the Minotaur, could find a way out.
When Theseus came to Crete, he was chosen to be one of the people put into the labyrinth for the Minotaur to find and eat. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and, following Daedalus’ advice, gave him a ball of thread to take with him into the labyrinth if he promised to take her with him once he escaped. Theseus agreed. Once he killed the Minotaur with his bare hands, the hero followed the trail of the thread and found his way out of the labyrinth.
Ariadne and Theseus sailed off together shortly thereafter, but he soon abandoned her on the island of Naxos. The god Dionysus found the princess weeping, fell in love, and the two were soon married. Ariadne wore a crown made by Hephaestus at the wedding and, once the ceremony was over, she tossed it into the sky, where the jewels turned into stars and the crown became the constellation Corona Borealis. The brightest star in the constellation, Gemma, got its name from the Latin word for “jewel.”
The Arabs know the constellation as “the poor people’s bowl” or Alphecca, which means “broken up.” The name Alphecca was later given to the constellation’s brightest star, Alpha Coronae Borealis.
The Cheyenne called the constellation the Camp Circle because its shape was similar to the way they arranged their camps, in a semi-circle.
In Australia, Corona Borealis is known as Woomera, the Boomerang, and the Welsh associate it with the castle of Lady Arianrhod, the Welsh goddess who gave birth to two sons through magical means.
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