Fact sheet
- Latin name
- Corona Borealis (CrB)
- Brightest star
- Alphecca (α CrB)
- Relative brightness
- 2.22 mag
- Hipparcos catalogue
- HIP 76267
- Area
- 179 deg² (rank: 73 out of 88)
- Right ascension
- 15h 16m 04s to 16h 25m 07s
- Declination
- +25° 32' 17'' to +39° 42' 42''
- Neighbouring constellations
- Hercules, Boötes, Serpens
Visibility
The constellation Corona Borealis
Corona Borealis is a small but very distinctive constellation of the northern hemisphere. Its brightest star bears the Arabic name Alphecca (“the broken one”, referring to the broken ring of stars). The striking semicircle of seven stars is easy to find starting from Boötes: its brightest star, the orange Arcturus, is the brightest star of the northern sky. About two hand widths further to the left in the sky lies Corona Borealis.
History
Over the centuries, this group of stars has been interpreted in very different ways. An assistant of Johann Bayer (a German astronomer of the 17th century) saw in it the crown of thorns of Christ, and a Benedictine monk saw the crown of the Archbishop of Salzburg. The Persians and Arabs, on the other hand, saw a beggar's bowl or a broken plate, the Chinese a string of coins, the Aborigines a boomerang, and an indigenous tribe in Brazil believed they could see an armadillo.
Mythology
Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. Her half-brother, the Minotaur, half human and half bull, was born from an affair between her mother and a bull, and after his birth Minos locked him in a labyrinth under the palace. The labyrinth was built in such a way that nobody who entered it could ever find the way out again. Every nine years, as a tribute to the powerful Crete, Athens had to send seven young women and seven young men, whom Minos sacrificed to the Minotaur. Theseus, the heir to the throne of Athens, volunteered to be one of the victims in order to kill the Minotaur. When Theseus arrived in Crete, Ariadne immediately fell deeply in love with him. She offered to help him and gave him a ball of wool. Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance of the labyrinth, killed the Minotaur and, with the help of the thread, really did find his way back. Ariadne, who had thereby betrayed her father, sailed away with Theseus. But when they reached the Greek island of Naxos, Theseus abandoned her. As she sat there alone, the god Dionysus (among other things the god of wine, joy and fertility) saw her. He immediately fell in love with the beautiful Ariadne and married her on the spot. At the wedding, Ariadne wore a very special crown. It had been made by Hephaestus, the god of fire, and was set with precious stones from India. After their wedding, the god Dionysus threw the crown into the sky out of joy, where its jewels turned into sparkling stars.
