Kemble's Cascade -- Asterism in Camelopardalis
A nice long-line (cascade) of 9th and 10th magnitude stars form a pleasing sight in the
constellation of the Camel. Because it is so spread out this star-cascade escapes notice
in almost all telescopes because one can see only a part of the string-of-stars and therefore
doomed not to see the whole asterism. It was not until 1980 before it was “discovered”
using 7x35 binoculars by Friar Lucian J, Kemble under the dark-skies of Alberta, Canada.
Kemble’s Cascade is still best seen with binoculars under a dark sky.
Unfortunately, from my suburban home, the light-pollution keeps me from seeing Kemble’s
Cascade in binoculars. In fact, without some type of visual aid, the whole expansive section
of the sky where the constellation Camelopardalis is located is devoid of stars from my
house. The constellation’s stars are just too dim. To make this drawing, I used my 85mm
refractor that gives me a 4.7-degree field-of-view; made two drawings and combined them
for the final drawing of Kemble’s Cascade.
At the southeast end of Kemble’s Cascade is the open cluster NGC 1502, but unless you
put additional magnification on the cluster it will not be readily apparent. Since I was using
a magnification of only 14x, for the drawing, the cluster is barely recognizable. Also, of
interest is that two Carbon Stars are located near Kemble’s Cascade. Carbon Stars are
unique in that their atmospheres contain more carbon than oxygen – not so in other stars.
The carbon combines with the oxygen, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes all the
available oxygen in the star’s upper atmosphere. The leftover carbon atoms bond with
other elements causing the star to shine ruby-red in color. No stars are darker-red than
Carbon Stars.
constellation of the Camel. Because it is so spread out this star-cascade escapes notice
in almost all telescopes because one can see only a part of the string-of-stars and therefore
doomed not to see the whole asterism. It was not until 1980 before it was “discovered”
using 7x35 binoculars by Friar Lucian J, Kemble under the dark-skies of Alberta, Canada.
Kemble’s Cascade is still best seen with binoculars under a dark sky.
Unfortunately, from my suburban home, the light-pollution keeps me from seeing Kemble’s
Cascade in binoculars. In fact, without some type of visual aid, the whole expansive section
of the sky where the constellation Camelopardalis is located is devoid of stars from my
house. The constellation’s stars are just too dim. To make this drawing, I used my 85mm
refractor that gives me a 4.7-degree field-of-view; made two drawings and combined them
for the final drawing of Kemble’s Cascade.
At the southeast end of Kemble’s Cascade is the open cluster NGC 1502, but unless you
put additional magnification on the cluster it will not be readily apparent. Since I was using
a magnification of only 14x, for the drawing, the cluster is barely recognizable. Also, of
interest is that two Carbon Stars are located near Kemble’s Cascade. Carbon Stars are
unique in that their atmospheres contain more carbon than oxygen – not so in other stars.
The carbon combines with the oxygen, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes all the
available oxygen in the star’s upper atmosphere. The leftover carbon atoms bond with
other elements causing the star to shine ruby-red in color. No stars are darker-red than
Carbon Stars.