Constellation, Northern Crown
Corona Borealis
The northern crown, a neat semicircle of stars that the Greeks saw as the crown of Ariadne. It holds the Blaze Star, a nova that has flared up more than once.
From New York on October 13, 2026, the centre of Corona Borealis rises at 7:07 AM, is highest at 3:15 PM (80° above the horizon in the S) and sets at 11:20 PM.
In the 3D sky
The sky over New York turned towards Corona Borealis. 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
In the usual Greek story, this is the crown of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete. She helped the Athenian prince Theseus escape the labyrinth after he killed the Minotaur, but he abandoned her on the island of Naxos. The god Dionysus found her there and married her, and after the wedding he tossed her crown into the sky, where its jewels became stars. Accounts differ on where the crown came from. In one it was a wedding gift from Aphrodite. In another Theseus got it from the sea nymph Thetis, and its light guided him through the labyrinth.
Its brightest star has two names. Alphecca comes from al-fakka, the Arabic name for the whole figure. Gemma is Latin for jewel. The star T Coronae Borealis, the Blaze Star, is a recurrent nova. The Irish astronomer John Birmingham discovered it in 1866, when it brightened to naked-eye view, and it flared up again in 1946.
Brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphecca | α CrB | 2.22 | 75 light-years |
| Nusakan | β CrB | 3.66 | 112 light-years |
| Baltesha | γ CrB | 3.81 | 146 light-years |
| Guansuo | θ CrB | 4.14 | 375 light-years |
| ε CrB | ε CrB | 4.14 | 221 light-years |
| Matrchakre | δ CrB | 4.59 | 170 light-years |
| ζ1 CrB | ζ1 CrB | 4.64 | 473 light-years |
| τ CrB | τ CrB | 4.73 | 117 light-years |
| κ CrB | κ CrB | 4.79 | 100 light-years |
| ξ CrB | ξ CrB | 4.86 | 183 light-years |
Facts
| Area | about 177 square degrees (73 of 88) |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | CrB |
| Sky | Northern sky |
| Origin | Listed in Ptolemy’s Almagest, about AD 150, from older Greek tradition |
| Stars brighter than magnitude 5 | 12 |
| Centre (J2000) | 15.8 h, 31° |
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.
No deep-sky object brighter than magnitude 9.
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.