The Constellation Camelopardalis
Camelopardalis is a large but faint area of sky close to the north celestial pole.
It does not contain any bright stars, and furthermore it also lies well away from the plane of the Milky Way and does not contain any bright deep sky objects either. However, because there is little obscuration from nearby material it is a good place to observe the distant universe, and it contains many faint galaxies.
Rather improbably, the name ‘Camelopardalis’ means ‘giraffe’ and was given to this sky area by Plancius in 1612. It had previously been left unnamed by Greek astronomers since it did not contain any bright stars.
The giraffe in question is supposedly the animal Rebecca rode to marry Isaac in the Book of Genesis, though the Biblical story itself refers to a camel. Legend has it that Johannes Hevelius saw the spots of a giraffe in the constellation's stars, prompting the association.
1612 (Plancius)
1.8% of the sky
756.8 square degrees
Camelopardalis contains no Messier objects
The following constellations neighbor Camelopardalis: Auriga, Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Lynx, Perseus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor.
Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| β-Cam (mag 4.0) | NGC 1502 (mag 6.9) | NGC 2403 (mag 8.9) | |
| HIP 16228 (mag 4.3) | IC 361 (mag 11.7) | IC 342 (mag 9.2) | |
| α-Cam (mag 4.3) | NGC 1708 | NGC 2655 (mag 10.1) | |
| BE Cam (mag 4.4) | NGC 2408 | IC 356 (mag 10.5) | |
| 7-Cam (mag 4.4) | NGC 2336 (mag 10.7) | ||
| HIP 33694 (mag 4.6) | NGC 1569 (mag 11.0) | ||
| HIP 16281 (mag 4.6) | NGC 1961 (mag 11.0) | ||
| γ-Cam (mag 4.6) | NGC 2715 (mag 11.5) | ||
| BK Cam (mag 4.7) | NGC 1560 (mag 11.5) | ||
| HIP 29997 (mag 4.8) | IC 334 (mag 11.5) | ||
| HIP 17587 (mag 4.8) | NGC 2268 (mag 11.6) | ||
| VZ Cam (mag 4.9) | NGC 2366 (mag 11.6) | ||
| HIP 18505 (mag 5.0) | NGC 2748 (mag 11.7) | ||
| HIP 19018 (mag 5.0) | NGC 2460 (mag 11.7) | ||
| HIP 18488 (mag 5.1) | NGC 1573 (mag 11.8) | ||
| 3-Cam (mag 5.1) | IC 520 (mag 11.8) | ||
| 43-Cam (mag 5.1) | NGC 2258 (mag 11.9) | ||
| HIP 25110 (mag 5.1) | NGC 2732 (mag 11.9) | ||
| HIP 16292 (mag 5.1) | NGC 2314 (mag 11.9) | ||
| BD Cam (mag 5.1) | NGC 2523 (mag 11.9) | ||
| 42-Cam (mag 5.1) | NGC 2634 (mag 12.0) | ||
| HIP 59504 (mag 5.1) | NGC 2646 (mag 12.0) | ||
| HIP 15890 (mag 5.2) | NGC 2551 (mag 12.1) | ||
| HIP 19949 (mag 5.2) | NGC 2441 (mag 12.2) | ||
| TU Cam (mag 5.2) | NGC 2633 (mag 12.2) | ||
| BV Cam (mag 5.2) | IC 529 (mag 12.3) | ||
| 16-Cam (mag 5.2) | NGC 1485 (mag 12.4) | ||
| HIP 20266 (mag 5.3) | NGC 1530 (mag 12.4) | ||
| HIP 51502 (mag 5.3) | IC 2179 (mag 12.5) | ||
| 4-Cam (mag 5.3) | NGC 2347 (mag 12.6) |
