Serpens Caput
Origin
Serpens is divided into two parts, Serpens Caput (the Serpent's Head) and Serpens Cauda (the Serpent's Tail), and has its origins in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. It represents a serpent or snake and is often associated with the serpent that played a role in various mythological tales. In Greek mythology, Serpens is linked to the healing god Asclepius, who was renowned for his ability to cure ailments. According to legend, Asclepius once used a serpent to heal a patient, and this association led to the inclusion of Serpens in the celestial catalog. Serpens is a unique constellation, as it is the only one divided into two separate sections on the celestial sphere.
Bright Stars
Serpens is relatively faint and does not contain any particularly bright stars. The brightest star in Serpens is the red giant star Alpha Serpentis, in Serpens Caput, with an apparent magnitude of 2.63.
Photo of the constellation Serpens Caput produced by NOIRLab in collaboration with Eckhard Slawik, a German astrophotographer.
The annotations are from a standardized set of 88 western IAU constellations and stick figures from Sky & Telescope. Please find here a non-annotated version of the image.
Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
Latin name
Serpens Caput
English name
The Serpent's Head
Pronunciation
SIR-pens
Abbreviation
Ser
Notable Objects
Messier 5: Located in Serpens Caput, Messier 5 is one of the finest globular clusters in the northern hemisphere. It is dense and contains hundreds of thousands of stars. A small telescope can reveal its bright core and some of its individual stars.
Palomar 5: Palomar 5 (or Pal 5) is a faint globular cluster discovered by the Palomar Sky Survey. Pal 5 is being tidally disrupted by the Milky Way leaving a trail of stars behind it.
