The story of a queen in the sky by ANANYA BHATIA | THE SILENT SHOR |

A speck of dust, a drop of water, a spider web, a pebble, an ant; everything we see around us has a story. Now stories are not always real, they might be happy stories, they might be sad stories but they always portray the subjects for which they are made. I use 'they' for stories, because they are alive, immortal to be precise, like the gods we will talk about later in this blog. Some are based on truths, some are based on lies. People make these stories so that they can pass them on. People have been making stories for all the things since the very beginning of time when they found themselves capable of expressing. There are stories which are of this world. And there are some out worldly stories, one of them is here.

Look in the northern sky on a clear moonless night when the stars tend to sparkle more so that people on the earth do not miss the moon. A combination of some of the brightest stars in the sky make a  shape resembling the alphabet - "W". This is the "Cassiopeia constellation". Now This "W" is the Throne of a queen, and such a spectacular throne it is, to be adorned by the brightest Diamonds of the sky.

Let me tell you the story behind this Throne and the queen seated their for eternity. There was a King named Cepheus in the lands of Ethiopia. He had a beautiful wife by the name of Cassiopeia. And of course, a beautiful wife means a beautiful offspring, They had a daughter by the name of Andromeda. Both mother and daughter were breathtakingly beautiful and the stories of their appearance were told in the neighboring lands. Now this was a time when the Gods and goddesses ruled the world and were praised and prayed upon everywhere. While combing her hair one fine day, the pride of her Beauty succumbed Cassiopeia and she boasted that no one in the whole wide world is as beautiful as herself and her daughter, not even the tempting sea nymphs called Nereids who were the 50 daughters of Nereus, the almighty old man of the sea. One of the beautiful sisters among Nereids known by the name of Amphitrite, was married to the Sea God Poseidon and was not happy with Cassiopeia's declaration and asked her husband to punish the mortal Cassiopeia for insulting the immortals. It was a big deal if you made the gods angry at that time, so is told in our stories, unlike today :].

Poseidon sent a vicious sea monster, who is also represented as a constellation named Cetus, to the coastal city of Ethiopia to destroy King Cepheus's and Queen Cassiopeia's Kingdom. The rulers were then told by an old oracle of the land to sacrifice their only daughter, Beautiful Andromeda,  to appease the sea monster. They chained Andromeda to a big rock near the coast as a sacrifice for the sea monster and waited for her fate. But her fate was timed perfectly when brave hero Perseus was returning after killing Medusa, the mythical beast who can turn you to stone if you look at her with naked eye. He saw the beautiful maiden in distress who was chained to a big rock and was about to be devoured by the sea monster. Perseus immediately killed the beast and rescued Andromeda and they fell in love. But a mistake is a mistake, innocent Andromeda was rescued by Perseus but as an alternative punishment Poseidon sent Cassiopeia into the heavens and each night she circles the celestial pole, sometimes hanging upside down, with the apparent danger of falling out. This punishment from the gods made her a figure of mockery and her husband along with her , represented as cepheus constellation , endured the same fate. Cepheus and Cassiopeia are the only husband and wife couple among the constellations. 

So this is the story about the queen in the sky. Now some nerdy facts about the constellation: 

Cassiopeia is one of the ancient constellations catalogued by the Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolomy almost 2,000 years ago

If we were able to observe the sun from the nearest star system Alpha Centauri, it would appear in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

Schedar is the brightest star in the constellation, it is 40 times larger in diameter than the sun.

The supernova remnant "Cassiopeia A" lies within the boundaries of the constellation, supernova remnants are nebulas which form after the explosion of a large star.

The Pacman Nebula, named after its resemblance to the old video game character, also lies within the constellation.

~Ananya Bhatia

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