Constellation, Giraffe
Camelopardalis
The giraffe, a large but faint northern figure added in 1612. Its odd Latin name comes from the Greek for the giraffe, a camel leopard, after its long neck and spots.
From New York, Camelopardalis never sets: it circles the pole and is highest at 3:49 AM on October 13, 2026, 65° above the horizon in the N.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Camelopardalis. Drag to look around.
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Evening visibility over the year
Height of the constellation’s centre above the horizon at 10 pm local time on the 15th of each month, from New York. Above about 30° it is well placed.
Name and history
Camelopardalis has no Greek myth. The Dutch theologian and astronomer Petrus Plancius created it in 1612 to fill a dim, empty area between the head of the Great Bear and Cassiopeia. The Greeks had left it blank because it has no bright stars. The name comes from the Greek for giraffe, a camel leopard, because of the animal’s long neck and spotted coat.
The German astronomer Jacob Bartsch showed it in print in 1624 and explained it as the camel that carried Rebecca to her marriage with Isaac in the Book of Genesis. But the figure is a giraffe, not a camel. Bartsch’s chart led some later writers to credit him with the figure, though Plancius had shown it years before. Johannes Hevelius gave it a whole plate in his atlas of 1690, which helped it gain general acceptance.
Sources: Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Camelopardalis, Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Chapter One, page 3 (Plancius)
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| β Cam | β Cam | 4.03 | 872 light-years |
| HIP 16228 | HIP 16228 | 4.21 | 1,941 light-years |
| α Cam | α Cam | 4.26 | unknown |
| Custos | HIP 17884 | 4.39 | 796 light-years |
| 7 Cam | 7 Cam | 4.43 | 372 light-years |
| HIP 16281 | HIP 16281 | 4.55 | 2,509 light-years |
| Tonglingxing | HIP 33694 | 4.55 | 184 light-years |
| Shaowei | γ Cam | 4.59 | 359 light-years |
| HIP 15520 | HIP 15520 | 4.74 | 762 light-years |
| Shangwei | HIP 29997 | 4.76 | 175 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 757 square degrees (18 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Cam |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | First shown on a celestial globe of 1612 by Plancius and the engraver Pieter van den Keere |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 15 |
| Centre (J2000) | 4.4 h, 66° |
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies, clusters and nebulae brighter than magnitude 9, from the OpenNGC catalogue. Most need binoculars or a telescope and a dark sky.
| Object | Type | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| NGC1502 | Open cluster | 6.9 |
| NGC2403 | Galaxy | 8.4 |
Boundaries: International Astronomical Union, via Astronomy Engine. Areas are computed from the boundaries by sampling (within about one percent). Names and lines: Stellarium. Stars: HYG Database. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC. Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources
How to use this page
Choose your place and a night at the top. The answer and the 3D view show where the constellation is, when it is highest and whether it rises at all from where you are. The chart shows its stars and lines, and the tables list its brightest stars and the deep-sky objects inside it.
Frequently asked questions
When is a constellation best seen?
When it is highest in a dark sky, which the page gives for the night you pick. Each constellation is best placed in a particular season, because the stars rise about four minutes earlier every night.
Why can I not see a constellation from my place?
Constellations far south of the celestial equator never rise from northern places, and those far north never rise from southern ones. The page says when this is the case.
What are the constellation boundaries?
The International Astronomical Union divides the sky into 88 areas with official boundaries. The stick figures are only a drawing aid, the boundaries say which constellation a point in the sky belongs to.
Related guides
- How to learn the constellationsStart with one bright pattern you cannot miss, use it as a signpost to its neighbours, and come back a month later: the sky will have turned, and you will know a little more of it.
- Altitude and azimuth: finding things in the skyTwo angles tell you exactly where to look: which direction, and how high.
- Light pollution and dark skies: the Bortle scaleFrom a city centre you can count a few dozen stars. From a truly dark site you can count a few thousand, with the Milky Way bright enough to cast a shadow. The Bortle scale puts a number on the difference.
- Binoculars for stargazing: what to buy and what to look atA pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars shows the craters of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, dozens of star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy, for a fraction of the cost of a telescope.