DMI image reference Lac. « Previous || Next » Constellations A » H || Constellations I » V
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Image and text ©2008 Akira Fujii/David Malin Images.
In the picture above, north is at the top and the image covers 28.6 x 35.8 degrees.
Image centre is located at 22:22:41.5, +40:04:35 (H:M:S, D:M:S, J2000) Astrometric data from Astrometry.net.
Best seen in the early evening in October
Lacerta (the Lizard) was a constellation invented by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. It lies boxed in on all sides by the much more interesting groupings of Cygnus, Cephus, Pegasus and Andromeda. Lacerta had no bright stars or significant deep sky objects apart from 14th magnitude star-like object BL Lac, a prototype of an unusal kind of active galaxy whose nucleus varies in brightness by a few magnitudes over several days.
The main named stars in the field shown are: (Greek alphabet)
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Azelfafage (π1 Cyg), Matar (η Peg), Sad al Bari, Scheat (β Peg).
Constellations adjoining Lacerta: Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cephus, Cygnus, Pegasus