Nomenclature
- Latin: Camelopardalis
- Genitive: Camelopardalis
- Abbreviation: Cam
Despite not being one of Ptolemy's constellations, the name is a loanword from Greek to Latin, evident from the nonstandard nominal ending -is and identical nominal and genitive cases. The name is from Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις kamelopardalis, 'spotted camel', a name coined as such because it was the Greeks' best guess for what a giraffe was. While one might wonder how a giraffe could be conflated with a camel, they should no further than the unaptly named Hippopotamus, 'river horse', to take in the ancients' ingenuity.
History
Camelopardalis was invented in 1612 by Dutch theologian and astronomer Petrus Plancius with the creation of his globe along with Dutch engraver Petrus Kaerius. Plancius used the same name we do, but later authors such as Bode used spellings such as Camelopardus and Camelopardalus instead. The matter of the constellation' spelling was sorted in the twentieth century.
The space that Camelopardalis takes up is rather dim with no stars brighter than the fourth magnitude, and as such had no Greek or Arabian associations. After its invention, the constellation was first popularised by the German astronomer Jacobus Bartschius, who published it and six of Plancius's other inventions in his book Usus Astronomicus Planisphaerii Stellati (1624). Its presence in modern star culture was cemented by Johannes Hevelius, who dedicated a whole plate to it in his posthumously published Firmamentum Sobiescianum (1690) and catalogued 37 stars within it. Ever since then, the constellation has been a main-stay of western star atlases, catalogues, and globes.
Mythology
Camel of Rebecca
As the constellation is modern, it does not have any Greek mythology associated with it. However, Bartsch assigned a story to it based on his misunderstanding of the name. He stated the constellation is the camel that brought Rebecca to Isaac in Genesis 24, not taking into account that Camelopardalis really means 'giraffe' and was not meant to be taken literally as 'spotted camel'. In this respect, he suggested the name Camelus Rebeccae for the constellation.
Stars
| Name | Designation | Apparent Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| Shaowei | γ Cam | 4.60 |
| Custos | BE Cam | 4.35-4.48 |
| Mago | HIP 24003 | 6.42 |
| Shangwei | HIP 29997 | 4.76 |
| Kamelos | HIP 31940 | 5.72 |
| Tonglingxing | HIP 33694 | 4.54 |
| Tonatiuh | HIP 58952 | 5.80 |