Abbreviation: Â Lac
English Name: Â The Lizard
Genitive:Â Lacertae
Hemisphere: Northern Hemisphere
Location:Â Between the constellations of Cassiopeia and Cygnus.
Visible between latitudes: Â +90 and -35 degrees
Best season: October
Seen in three seasons:Â Summer, Autumn and Winter
Best seen in:Â May and FebruaryÂ
Seen between:Â October
Right Ascension (RA):Â 22 hour
Declination (DEC):Â -45 degrees
Area (square degrees): Â 201 (68th)
Lacerta (The Lizard)
- A small faint constellation, sometimes referred to as “Little Cassiopeia”.
- Lacerta is typical of Milky Way constellations: no bright galaxies, either no globular clusters, but instead open clusters, for example NGC 7243, the faint planetary nebula IC 5271 and quite a few double stars.
Messier Objects
- No Messier objects in Lacerta.
Features of Interest
- NGC 7243 Â – Â Open Cluster, also known as Caldwell 16 (C16);Â visible in small telescopes;Â few dozen “scattered” stars, the brightest of which are of the 8th magnitude, near Alpha Lacertae.
Named Stars
- Alpha Lacertae – blue-white hued; magnitude of +3.8.
- Beta Lacertae – far dimmer; yellow giant of magnitude +4.4.
Others
- Photo of the constellation;Â Lacerta, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
- Sky Chart  –  Lacerta
- List of stars in Lacerta.
Back to The 88 Constellations Lists page.