Corona Borealis lies between the "kite" of Bootes to the west, and the "butterfly" of Hercules to the east. Corona Borealis contains 7 stars arranged in a semi-circle, resembling a jeweled crown. To the south is the head of the serpent, Serpens Caput. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, Corona Borealis is best seen from April to August.
History and Mythology
This constellation represents the crown of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete. Ariadne was a beautiful woman who won the heart of the handsome god Dionysus. He revealed to her he was a god and asked to marry her. Ariadne did not believe he was telling the truth, so to prove his love, Dionysus produced the loveliest crown in the world for her. They were married, and when she died the crown was placed in the sky in her honor.
In Shawnee Indian lore, the constellation is twelve beautiful star maidens who come down to earth to perform the dance of the prairie. Algon, a young man with supernatural powers, fell in love with the youngest of the star maidens. He held her in his arms until all of the other maidens returned to the heavens. She fell in love with Algon, and they were married. The bright circle of stars between Bootes and Hercules (Corona Borealis) is said to be the star maidens, but the circle is not quite complete because there is an open space left by the maiden that Algon carried away.
Australian aboriginals see this star group as a boomerang. In Arabic legends, the broken ring is seen as a cracked bowl or platter.
Notable Stars
Alphecca is a second magnitude blue-white star, 78 light-years away. It is known as the "gem" or "jewel" in the crown. It is an eclipsing binary star that dips from magnitude 2.2 to 2.3 every 17.4 days.
Zeta Coronae Borealis is a pair of blue stars, magnitudes 5.0 and 6.0, which can be seen in a small telescope.
R Corona Borealis is a variable star that can be seen with binoculars. Unpredictably, this star can drop from its usual 6th magnitude to magnitude 14 within a matter of weeks. It may take several months to regain its brightness again.
T Coronae Borealis is also known as the Blaze Star. It is a recurrent nova of magnitude 11, but it can unpredictably brighten to magnitude 2 for short intervals.