Constellation, Lac
Lacerta: the Lizard
Lacerta covers 200 square degrees of sky, the 68th largest of the 88. Its brightest star is star HIP 111169. It is best placed in the evening sky in October.
Lacerta at a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Lac |
| Meaning | the Lizard |
| Pronounced | luh-SER-tuh |
| Genitive, used in star names | Lacertae (for example a Bayer name such as α Lacertae) |
| Area | 200 square degrees, number 68 of 88 by size |
| Stars to magnitude 6 in our catalogue | 36 |
| Brightest star | star HIP 111169, magnitude 3.8 |
| Best seen | Evenings in October, when it is highest at 9 pm |
| Declination range | 35° to 57° |
| Borders | Cygnus, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia |
Where on Earth you can see Lacerta
Lacerta spans declinations 35° to 57°. Every part of it rises above the horizon at some moment for observers between latitudes 33°S and 90°N. Some of it can be seen from latitudes 55°S to 90°N. North of 55°N none of it ever sets. This is geometry only: it ignores haze, hills and buildings near the horizon.
From six cities
| City | Latitude | Visibility | Middle at its highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pune | 18.5°N | All of it rises | 62° |
| New York | 40.7°N | All of it rises | 85° |
| London | 51.5°N | All of it rises | 85° |
| Tromsø | 69.6°N | Never sets | 66° |
| Tokyo | 35.7°N | All of it rises | 80° |
| Sydney | 33.9°S | Only part of it rises | 10° |
Lacerta's named stars
None of the stars brighter than magnitude 6 in Lacerta has a name approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names.
How these facts were found
The name, meaning and boundaries are the IAU's. Area, borders and the latitude ranges are computed from those boundaries; the brightest star and the star count come from a magnitude-6 star catalogue; star names are matched to the catalogue by Hipparcos number and checked by position. The month is when Lacerta's middle crosses the north-south line of the sky at 9 pm local solar time. See How we know.
Sources
- IAU: The Constellations. Names, meanings, pronunciations and boundaries
- IAU Working Group on Star Names. The official names of stars
- astronomy-engine. The MIT licensed library that does the calculations, run on the page's build machine and in the app
- HYG database v4.4 (astronexus). Distances, spectral types and luminosities, licence CC BY-SA 4.0