Serpens, or the Serpent, is held by the Serpent Holder, Ophiuchus, and is the only constellation to consist of two separate parts - Serpens Caput (the Head) and Serpens Cauda (the Tail).
Derivation
Though the stars of this region have been seen as a serpent for thousands of years, their symbolic meaning remains uncertain. It is thought likely that the Serpent and its bearer
Ophiuchus are related to the Greek healer-god Asclepius. The Greeks believed that the serpents of Asclepius could cure diseases, and so belong a long association between serpents and
medicine that continues to our own time.
Stars
The stars of Serpens form the shape of a long writhing snake that starts near the Northern Crown, passes southward through Serpens Caput, then through the body of Ophiuchus. When the
shape emerges into Serpens Cauda, it turns northward again, and carries on to reach its end into the Milky Way. The tip of the Serpent's nose is the faint star Rho Serpentis, while the
tip of its tail is marked by the similarly faint Alya. A number of the stars that form part of the serpent's body actually belong to the constellation Ophiuchus. Yed Prior, Yed
Posterior, Upsilon Ophiuchi, Zeta Ophiuchi and Sabik are all Ophiuchan stars that lie along the star-snake's body.
Though its shape is well-defined, Serpens is lacking in bright stars. The brightest is Unuk Élhaia (the 'serpent's neck') an orange giant about seventy light years away, with a magnitude of +2.6. Beta Serpentis, the next brightest star, is more than a magnitude fainter at +3.7.
Star Clusters and Nebulae
Much closer to Earth, at approximately 1,300 light years, is the open cluster IC 4756. This is close to the tip of the Serpent's Tail, in Serpens Cauda.
Stars In Serpens Cauda
IC4756
These open clusters are paralleling with an interval of about 3 degrees bathed in the Milky Way in summer. The top one is IC4756 and The Bottom one has a number of NGC6633, belong to constellations of Serpens Cauda and Ophiuchus, respectively. IC4756 has an apparent size of over 1 degree, and NGC6633 is over 20 arc minutes in diameter.
Nebula's In Serpens Cauda
M16 (NGC6611)
M16 (NGC6611) is a magnificent diffused nebula in the constellation of Serpens, with a size of 30 arc minutes and a distance of about 4600 light years. The nebula is lying on top of an open cluster, both nebula and cluster have same number of M16=NGC6611. The nebula has a nickname "Eagle Nebula", very luminous with dark streaks of dust; a nursery of baby stars.
Barnard 82
The Snake nebula is positioned at 1.5 degree north of sita Oph that marks the right leg of serpent holder. This field is squeezed between Scorpius and Sagittarius. The dark nebula has a formal name of Barnard 82, but the nickname of "Snake Nebula" is much familiar. This nebula is one of most popular dark gaseous clouds distributed in the Milky Way in summer. Its span is equivalent to about 20 arc minutes, S-shaped
Galaxies In Serpens Cauda
PGC 54559
A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a face-on view of the galaxy's ring of stars, revealing more detail than any existing photo of this object. The image may help astronomers unravel clues on how such strange objects form.
The entire galaxy is about 120,000 light-years wide, which is slightly larger than our Milky Way Galaxy. The blue ring, which is dominated by clusters of young, massive stars, contrasts sharply with the yellow nucleus of mostly older stars. What appears to be a "gap" separating the two stellar populations may actually contain some star clusters that are almost too faint to see. Curiously, an object that bears an uncanny resemblance to Hoag's Object can be seen in the gap at the one o'clock position. The object is probably a background ring galaxy. Ring-shaped galaxies can form in several different ways. One possible scenario is through a collision with another galaxy. Sometimes the second galaxy speeds through the first, leaving a "splash" of star formation. But in Hoag's Object there is no sign of the second galaxy, which leads to the suspicion that the blue ring of stars may be the shredded remains of a galaxy that passed nearby. Some astronomers estimate that the encounter occurred about 2 to 3 billion years ago. This unusual galaxy was discovered in 1950 by astronomer Art Hoag. Hoag thought the smoke-ring-like object resembled a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. But he quickly discounted that possibility, suggesting that the mysterious object was most likely a galaxy. Observations in the 1970s confirmed this prediction, though many of the details of Hoag's galaxy remain a mystery. The galaxy is 600 million light-years away in the constellation Serpens. The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 took this image on July 9, 2001.Planetary Stars In Serpens Cauda
HD 168443 (G5)
Parent Star: HD 168443 (G5) in the constellation of Serpens Cauda is located at a distance of 107.7 Light Years from our Solar system Co-ordinates of Right Ascension: 18 20 04.11 & -09 35 34.6. The apparent Magnitude of the star is 6.92. The Inner Edge of Habitability Zone is 0.74 AU & the Outer Edge of Habitability Zone: 2.33 AU and the estimated stellar lifespan of the star is 9705 million years. Orbiting around HD 168443 are planets HD 168443 b, HD 168443. c.
HD 168443 b the planet is believed to be a clarified jovian, eccentric planet and its existence has been confirmed. The planets appearance is blue and cloudless. The planet is positioned out side of Habitability Zone at Mean Orbital Distance of 0.29 AU and the estimated radius of the planet is 1.039 Jupiters 1. The planet Orbits around the star every 58.116 ± 0.001 Days and was discovered by Marcy et al in 1998.
HD 168443 c the planet is believed to be a brown dwarf planet and its existence has been confirmed. The planets appearance is a brown haze. The planet is positioned out side of Habitability Zone at Mean Orbital Distance of 2.87 AU and the estimated radius of the planet is 0.971 Jupiters 1. The planet Orbits around the star every 1739.5 ± 3.98 Days and was discovered by Marcy et al in 2001.
HD 168746 (G5 V)
Parent Star: HD 168746 (G5 V) in the constellation of Serpens Cauda is located at a distance of 140.64 Light Years from our Solar system Co-ordinates of Right Ascension: 18 21 49.7832 & Declination: -11 55 21.660. The apparent Magnitude of the star is 7.95. The Inner Edge of Habitability Zone is 0.48 AU & the Outer Edge of Habitability Zone: 1.51 AU. Orbiting around HD 168746 is planet HD 168746 b the planet is believed to be a dark hot jupiter and its exitence has been confirmed. The Planets Appearance is dark sodium haze. The planet is positioned outside of the habitability zone at Mean Orbital Distance of 0.065 AU. The planet Orbits around the star every 6.403 ± 0.001 Days and was discovered by Michel Mayor, Dominique Naef, Francesco Pepe, Didier Queloz, Nuno Santos, Stephane Udry and Michel Burnet in 2000.
