The Constellation Lacerta
Lacerta is a small northern constellation which appears highest in the midnight sky in the months around August.
It was introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1690, filling an area of sky between Cygnus and Andromeda which lacks any bright stars.
Lacerta represents a lizard, though it only contains one star brighter than fourth magnitude. It is home to the open clusters NGC 7243 and NGC 7209, as well as the variable object BL Lac, the prototypical example of a blazar. Varying between magnitude 14 and 17, however, BL Lac is extremely faint and can only been seen through the largest amateur telescopes.
1690 (Hevelius)
0.5% of the sky
200.7 square degrees
Lacerta contains no Messier objects
The following constellations neighbor Lacerta: Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Pegasus.
Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.
