Observation Constellations Overview

Constellations are usual boundaries of regions of the sky inside which groups of stars are found. Such stars are not bound in space however as it is just a question of perspective whether they are looking close together as seen from the Earth. Constellations, generally, appeared when there was a need for a agricultural calender when the great empires of the Middle East were constituted -even if that concept might have originate since the time of hunterers-gatherers. Such need later expanded into fertility rites or the needs of sailors. Most constellations where then defined through the heliacal rise of their main star -that time when that star is seen by dawn's twilight, and constituted according to the mythical lores of such or such civilization. In ancient civilizations, as myths and stories were passed on by oral tradition, they often turned constellations as it was further easy to remember those to have the main characters and points of a fable hanging in the sky. A few constellations, notably the Great Bear, are widely believed to predate the invention of writing some 5,000 years ago as Cygnus, Taurus or Leo may be dated back to the 4th millenium B.C. And there's compelling evidence that many, including the zodiacal constellations, originated in Mesopotamia sometime before 1,000 BC. Zodiacal constellations were those identified by most ancient cultures because the Sun -the most sacred celestial object- and planets moved along. Zodiac was a feature officialized by Babylonian astronomers. Somehow, the Mesopotamian constellations were imported into ancient Greece, but there's no record of how or why this occurred. Mesopotamian constellations were not mentioned in the works of Homer and Hesiod (about 700 BC), for example, but they were firmly entrenched in the earliest comprehensive Greek constellation lists, appearing around 350 B.C

The Greeks eventually seem to have invented some constellations of their own, notably the Perseus family, around the same time that they adopted the Mesopotomian constellations, and a few more were added after 350 B.C. Regarding the links between constellations and Greek myths, myths concerned are those evoked by the following authors. Aratos in his "Phaenomena" by the 3rd century B.C. describing constellations, their stars' positions, their rise and set and with a brief account of legends attached. Erathostenes in his 'Catasterisms,' known through a 2nd century B.C. summary where such a mix of science and myths is also found. And a whole set of greek and latin astronomical works (idem) dating until by the late Roman empire. Greek mythological data usually found about constellations are mostly originating from stabilized data by the 2nd century B.C., a stabilization taken back by the Latin writer Hyginus with its 'Astronomy.' The most famed ancient list of constellations eventually turned the one by Claudius Ptolemy, a Roman astronomer likely of Egypto-Greek origin, in its 'Almagest' ('the Greatest' in Arabic) by 150 A.D. That work summarized all of classical astronomy. According to his views, he divided the sky into 48 constellations, with a total of 1,022 stars. Ptolemy's constellations were most of the time related to mythological animals or other figures with a astrological, geographical, cartographical or calendary use. As Rome conquered the entire Greek-speaking world by 30 B.C., Greek constellation names were translated or transliterated into Latin. Astronomy was then neglected in Europe for more than a millennium following the Almagest as scholars in the Muslim world only pursued study of the skies. Astronomy in Europe was revived in the 15th century, when Great Discoveries navigators started to sail under unknown skies, and naming stars and constellations which the Almagest did not mention. They gave constellations they created names of observation instruments or related to the local flora and fauna. With the telescope era, astronomers later deviced additional constellations to fill the gaps between the already existing ones. Such gaps had been of no interest to Ptolemy nor early European discoverers as they contained no bright stars. Other civilizations, like China or pre-Columbian ones in the Americas also had their own star-related lores or views of the skies as they did not influence that much the current state of the sky

Definitive constellations boundaries were fixed in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as constellations number was fixed at 88. The base to today constellations are the famed 48 constellations which were recensed by Ptolemy. A asterism is only a part of a constellation's group of stars, like the Leo's Sickle which is a part only of constellation of Leo, the Lion or the Great Square of Pegasus which is a part of Pegasus, the Winged Horse. The following overview of constellations, by alphabetical order of their Latin name, provides for some constellation its general coordinates and for each, its surface on the sky in square degrees, its hemisphere (some constellations only), most usual facts and myths about it, and when needed, objects found in it. Click on the illustration ahead of the text for each constellation to a simple chart (the limiting magnitude for the named stars are mostly the 4.5, or 5th magnitude; the charts not scale relatively to each other. Albeit sufficiently accurate to a first overview of a constellation, those charts cannot be used, strictly, for an advanced observation, like finding a specific, detailed field, for example)

->important note about the constellations shapes: you will note that the current astronomical softwares and charts tending to shift from the constellations' shapes as usually recognized by the amateur astronomy community. This may be of a lesser inconvenience in the case of our constellation charts. A check to the appropriate general, monthly sky chart, may be of use however, as found either in the three tutorials about naked-eye sky learning, or the "12 Months Sky Charts" series, both, on the other hand, in the printer-friendly format. It's those charts in that format that support constellations shapes which shift less from the commonly accepted shapes. Those printer-friendly charts however are just providing an approaching estimation of the constellations' shapes like they should be however and must considered like such. more details on a dedicated page

. A-C (Andromeda, Andromeda-Chamaeleon, the Chameleon) . C-I (Circinus, the Compass-Indus, the Indian)

. L-P (Lacerta, the Lizard-Pisces, the Fishes) . P-V (Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish-Vulpecula, the Little Fox)

A-C (Andromeda, Andromeda-Chamaeleon, the Chameleon)

Andromeda, Andromeda Antlia, the Air Pump Apus, the Bird of Paradise Aquarius, the Water Bearer Aquila, the Eagle Ara, the Altar Aries, the Ram Auriga, the Charioteer Boötes, the Herdsman Caelum, the Chisel Camelopardalis, the Giraffe Cancer, the Crab Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs

Canis Major, the Great Dog Canis Minor, the Little Dog Capricornus, the Goat Carina, the Ship's Keel Cassiopeia , Cassiopeia, or the Queen Centaurus, the Centaur Cepheus, Cepheus, or the King Cetus, the Whale Chamaeleon, the Chameleon

Andromeda, Andromeda

R.A. 01h, Decl. +40deg;. 722°. Northern hemisphere. Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia as Cepheus was her father, Queen and King of Aethiopia, or Joppa, a country on the Mediterranean northern coast -and not current Ethiopia. As Queen Cassiopeia boasted that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids, the sea-nymph attendants of the sea god Poseidon and the sea goddess Thetis, Nereids begged Poseidon to punish Cassiopeia. Poseidon sent flood waters carrying a sea monster (in some versions named Cetus) to destroy the kingdom. A oracle told Cepheus that the only way to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster. Andromeda was chained to a seaside cliff to be eaten by the monster (for some named Cetus). Perseus returning from killing the Medusa fell in love with Andromeda and he rescued Andromeda her, in return for her hand in marriage, which Cassiopeia and Cepheus and agreed reluctantly, having already promised her to someone else. That Greek myth originated from former legends of the Tigris-Euphraetes and other eastern Mediterranean civilizations. Hence the link between these constellations: Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Cetus (the Whale). M31, M32, M110 i.e. Andromeda Galaxy and its two satellites (the Andromeda Galaxy has been seen by the Hubble Space Telescope with a double nucleus, as the galaxy may be considered dimly visible to the unaided eye like a misty patch under a clear, dark sky, and already well available with small binoculars; the Andromeda Galaxy is the farthest celestiel object visible naked eye; spiral arms are accessible to astrophotography only). Region of galaxies and deep sky objects. The double star Almaak, or g And, with a separation of 10" is visible like a fine double with a 60mm refractor at a power of 70x. The main star at the 2.3nd mag. is orange and the companion blue at the 5.1th

Antlia, the Air Pump

239° Named by Lacaille in honor of the 17th century British chemist Robert Boyle. Antlia Pneumatica until work of IAU 1930. U Antliae is accessible to binoculars like a very red star, which varies slightly in brightness from week to week, a carbon star, an evolved, cool and luminous star of the asymptotic giant branch type. It holds a remarkably thin spherical shell around it which it shed around 2700 years ago through a short period of rapid mass loss

Apus, the Bird of Paradise

206° First appears in Uranometria 1603. Amerigo Vespucci might have been one of its discoverers. Probably named by Pieter Dirksz Keyser and Fredrick de Houtman about 1595-1597

Aquarius, the Water Bearer

R.A. 23h, Decl.-15°. 980°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. One of the constellations of the zodiac as it was a pattern identified with water by almost all ancient cultures, including the Chinese and Indian, probably because its rising coincided with the rainy season as Aquarius took part in a larger area dedicated to water. One finds there other constellations related to water like Pisces and Capricornus. Sometimes River Eridanus is shown having its source at the Water Bearer. The names given by Arabs to several of the stars in this constellation contain the word "luck", perhaps a reference to the good fortune brought by the effect of seasonal rains on the harvest, and the Arab name for the entire constellation translates as "well bucket". The Babylonians associated it with their myth of a great flood which might have open into the Biblical Flood. The Greeks and Romans associated it with a figure pouring or bearing water -Zeus pouring life-giving water down on the Earth, or Ganymede bearing the libations of the gods. The Romans also saw it as the source of the celestial river Eridanus that figures in other myths of the Gods. M2 (globular cluster; easy), M72 (globular cluster), M73, NGC 7293 (or the Helix Nebula, the largest of planetary nebulae and easy albeit weak)

Aquila, the Eagle

R.A. 20h, Decl. +05°. 652°. Northern hemisphere. Since the ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures, the constellation Aquila was seen as the shape of a flying bird, or eagle since the first millennium B.C., a bird seen with royal associations. Constellation's main three stars, for Indians, are the footprints of Vishnu, the god of all what is good in the Universe, as, in China, Japan and Korea, Altair, Aquila's brightest star, is part of a myth related to Vega, the main star to Lyra. check at Lyra. For the Greeks, the eagle was sometimes identified as a servant of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, as a eagle was keeper of the god's thunderbolts, or the disguisement of him. Possibly as a reward for its services, possibly as a symbol of his own royalty, Zeus is said to have placed the image of an eagle in the sky. Aquila was known like a vulture to the Romans. The Arabic and Persian names for the constellation and its main stars refer to an eagle and its parts (wings, tail, etc.) Altair, generally, is part of the Summer Triangle, with Vega and Deneb. Aquila stands in a region of the Milky Way

Ara, the Altar

R.A. 17h, Decl. -54°. Northern and southern hemisphere. 237° The story of that constellation is complex. Originally, Ara was referred to as a altea, a incense vessel, or a altar with burning incense. The Greeks and maybe the Romans took Ara from the antique, Euphratean zodiacal constellation Tul-Ku, meaning "Holy Altar". Tul-Ku was replaced by Libra when the Greeks adopted Ara like the present constellation. The Romans identified it as Thymele, the altar of Dionysus, and Ara Centauri, or "Centaur's Alter". The Arabs called the constellation Al Mijmarah, borrowed from the Greeks and meaning "The Censer". Ara Centauri came about in the classical times where Ara, Lupus, and Centaurus were one constellation as the name Turibulum, the Censer, from the Romans, was constellation's name until the 18th century. At that date, when constellation Norma was created, the constellation turned independent and the name turned 'Ara', as associated with the mythological story written by the Roman poet Marcus Manilius, according to which Ara was the altar where Zeus and his fellow gods took vows before defeating the Titans. Nowadays, Ara is normally represented as an incense burner. Region of deep sky objects

Aries, the Ram

441° One of the constellations of the zodiac. Mostly the ram of the Golden Fleece

Auriga, the Charioteer

657° This constellation is associated on one hand to a charioteer (either Hephaestus -Vulcan at Rome or his son, all persons who invented the chariot), on another hand to sheperds and goats: Capella the bright star is maybe Amalthea, the goat which nourished Zeus when infant and two fainter stars associated to it are the goat's kids (h and z Aur, or Hoedus II and I respectivlely). M36 (open cluster), M37 (impressive open cluster at 150 stars), M38 (open cluster). Region of open clusters

Boötes, the Herdsman

R.A. 15h, Decl. +30°. 907°. Northern hemisphere. Boötes might be one of the most ancient constellations in the sky because early civilizations checked the kyte-shape form of it, like a human torso, sometimes with legs or a raised arm. Cultures in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East had the constellation like a herdsman, cart driver, and plowman. Egyptians saw Boötes as hippopotamus goddess, guardian of the evil pole stars. By Greek poet Homer, in its Odyssey, name Boötes (maybe derived from 'ox-driver' or 'herder') is mentioned like one of both abandoned twins raised by a herdsman. A other Greek legend saw Ursa Major as a plow, and Boötes as the one who taught ploughing and agriculture to humans, from goddess Demeter. Other Greek lores still have Boötes as a keeper or driver or chaser of bears, represented by constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The Romans saw the stars of Ursa Major as both the Triones, a mythical group of ploughing oxen, and a plow, and saw the figure in Boötes as the ox driver and ploughman. Arcturus, generally, the main star to the constellation means "guardian of the bears" and was a alternate name to Boötes. Arabs had the pole stars as a flock of sheep herded by Boötes. Versions of the Greek legend of Callisto and her son Arcas, one or both of whom transformed into bears, then placed in the sky by Zeus, generally are associated with Boötes, Boötes himself being the son of Callisto and Zeus who nearly killed his mother tranformed into a she-bear, would Zeus not have taken her to heavens like the constellation of the Great Bear. see at Great Bear. Later, in the 17th century, astronomer Hevelius created constellation Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs like Boötes ' two bear-hunting dogs, which might be dogs Asterion and Chara pursuing the Great Bear

Caelum, the Chisel

125° Constellation devised by Lacaille during its work at the Cape of Good Hope. The instrument used for engraving metal might be part of the Sculptor's equipment

Camelopardalis, the Giraffe

757° Constellation appeared in 1614; was more formally devised by the German astronomer Jakob Bartsch (1624) to fill a area devoided of bright stars; was representing the camel which brought Rebecca to Issac. The name Camelopardalis came from that Julius Caesar brought a giraffe to Rome from Alexandria as it was the first time in history that a giraffe was seen in Europe. Writers of the time described the giraffe both in terms of a camel and a leopard to illustrate. NGC 2403 (a easy galaxy, belonging to the Local Group, one of the easiest to amateur astronomers), The Kemble's Cascade asterism (colorful stars in a line pattern, with NGC 1502, a open cluster (7th mag.) at one end), NGC 2655, a lenticular and Seyfert galaxy at the 10th magnitude as it lies by 80 million light-years

Cancer, the Crab

R.A. 8.7h, Decl. +20.2°. 506°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. A crab named Cancer sent by goddess Hera against Hercules to distract the hero when the latter was fighting Hydra during one of its 12 labors. Hercules killed it as Hera placed it in the sky like a zodiacal constellation. Another view (Chaldeans, Platon) is that the Crab was the gate through which souls descended upon men from heavens. Assyrian, Egyptian, Roman and Arab lore also participated into that constellation. M44 (famous open cluster the Beehive, or Praesepe -- meaning 'manger' in Latin as located between stars Asellus Borealis and Australis respectively, which figure two donkeys; one of the closest open clusters to the Earth, at 450 light-years; when observed with the naked eye, it appears as a fuzzy region in the sky as even through a small optical telescope, its multitude of stars looks like a swarm of bees. Also known like NGC 2632. Praesepe have been a rich source of exoplanet discovery and may yet yield more), M67 (large open cluster, one of the oldest known; at the 6.9th magnitude. M67 is intriguing because the age and chemical composition of this cluster is similar to our Sun and may help explain the history and evolution of our solar system)

Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs

R.A. 13h, Decl. +40°. 465°. Northern hemisphere. A constellation created by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius around 1687, like two bear-hunting dogs for Boötes he holds on a leash, and named them Asterion and Chara. The constellation forms a link between Boötes, in his role as bear-driver, and the bears he is chasing, represented by the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. see at Great Bear. Hevelius maybe created a constellation at that location because early telescopes revealed interesting objects there. English astronomer Edmund Halley might have used a alternate name for Asterion, "Cor Caroli", or "heart of Charles", for the 17th century King Charles I of England who was beheaded during Cromwell's revolution, or his son Charles II, who "restored" the throne. Asterion (a double star), M3 (one of the finest globular clusters and easily accessible; home to 45,000 stars of which numerous Cepheids), M51 (Whirlpool galaxy. The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy at only 30 million light years distant and 60 thousand light years across, also known as NGC 5194, and is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky. A 130-150mm telescope is needed to add arms to both bright spots seen with smaller ones; both elements of M51 are two galaxies merging), M63 (Sunflower galaxy), M94 (galaxy), M106 (galaxy; a galaxy featuring extra spiral arms or 'anomalous arms' unusually not aligned with the plane of the galaxy), NGC 4242 (a galaxy lying some 30 million light-years from us as it was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1788. The galaxy supports a low rate of star formation and a weak bar of stars seems to be cutting through its asymmetric center, with also a very faint and poorly-defined spiral structure throughout its disk), NGC 4631 (galaxy), NGC 4656 (galaxy; the galaxy's unusual shape is thought to be due to an interaction between NGC 4656 and a couple of near neighbors, NGC 4631 (otherwise known as the Whale Galaxy) and NGC 4627 (a small elliptical)). Region of galaxies

Canis Major, the Great Dog

R.A. 07h, Decl. -20°. Northern hemisphere. 941° A constellation built around Sirius, known as the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky, or, for the Greeks and Romans, one of Orion's dogs as the other is the Little Dog. Orion may seen too like pursuing the Hare with his dogs. see at Orion. The star Sirius had significance for early civilizations. The dawn rising of Sirius predicted the annual flooding of the Nile for ancient Egyptians, hence roman language the name for heavily warm periods in summer (canicule, from the Latin for dog, "canis"). In a ancient Indian legend, the stars in this constellation are also linked to the Orion constellation, but the roles are reversed: Canis Major is seen as a deer hunter who is chasing a deer represented by the stars in Orion. M41 (a large open cluster; a easy object 4 degree South of Sirius). Region of open clusters

Canis Minor, the Little Dog

182° The other dog of Orion with the Great Dog. The name of its bright star, "Procyon" means "before the dog" in Greek as it is above Sirius of the Great Dog

Capricornus, the Goat

R.A. 21h, Decl. -20°. 414°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Images of the creature represented by Capricornus, often with the head and body of a goat and the tail of a fish, hence a 'sea-goat,' have been found in 3000 B.C. year-old Babylonian tablets, as recognition of the constellation is probably even older. The constellation is found in the part of the sky identified since ancient times with water constellations, including the two water constellations of the Zodiac, as it might match rain season in the Middle East along with renewal and annual sacrifices as winter solstice occurred in Capricornus at the time. That turned, by the Greeks, into the constellation associated with the gate through which souls entered after death. Might also be the legendary goat which nursed Zeus by his infancy, or linked to the myth in which the god Pan tried to escape the monster Typhon by turning into a fish, managing to morph only his lower half. Many of the names given to Capricornus stars by Arab astronomers refer to parts of a goat, kid, or ibex, and to related sacrificial rites. M30 (globular cluster; relatively low on the horizon from the northern hemisphere but it is close by 20' only from star 41 Cap)

Carina, the Ship's Keel

R.A. 09h, Decl. -60°. 494°. Mostly southern hemisphere. Was part of the ship Argo, ship of the Argonauts for the Greeks, with Jason, looking for the Golden Fleece. Ship Argo was one of Ptolemy's 48 constellations. Ship Argo story, with Jason raised by centaurus Chiron, and his team of prominent Greek heroes, were part of popular ballad cycles, and myths. The star located in the rudder of the ship, the 2nd brightest in the sky, is named after Canopus, the famous pilot of the fleet of Greek King Menelaus, husband to Helen of Troy, which might hint to a alternate story to Argo Navis, the one of the ship returning Menelaus from the Trojan Wars. A ship pattern was also recognized by several ancient civilizations like the Egyptian boat carrying gods Isis and Osiris during a worldwide flood, or Indians. The original constellation of the Ship extended as large as 75 degrees (about a quarter of the sky) hence far too large for new observational purposes. It was deconstructed into the Keel (Carina), the Stern (Puppis) and the Sails (Vela) by the 18th century A.D. by French astronomer abbot Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and that was confirmed by the drawing of the 88 constellations by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1930. The Carina Nebula, spanning over 300 light-years, is one of the Milky Way Galaxy's largest star-forming regions and is easily visible to the unaided eye under dark skies. eta Carina (famous exploding unstable star as it pulls material from the nearby Keyhole nebula (NGC 3372) and intermittently puffs off as a nova; eta Carinae is a double system, with extreme high velocity stellar winds colliding between both; last episode occurred about in the 1830's when the larger star emitted gas and dust in a short span of time, which created both lobes of the Homunculus nebula). The Keyhole Nebula -- a small, dense cloud of cold molecules and gas within the Carina Nebula -- hosts several massive stars and its appearance also changed drastically over recent centuries. Region of numerous open clusters. NGC 3532 is a one located 1300 light-years as informally known as the Wishing Well Cluster; very bright at the 3rd magnitude, one of the most spectacular open star clusters in the whole sky and easily seen with the naked eye (it was discovered by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille whilst observing from South Africa in 1752 as it covers a area of the sky almost twice the size of Full Moon. NGC 3532 was the first target to be observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, on 20 May 1990). IC 2602 is called the Southern Pleiades, a magnificent open cluster

Cassiopeia , Cassiopeia, or the Queen

R.A. 01h, Decl. +60°. 598°. Northern hemisphere. Aethiopiean queen. Married to Cepheus, and mother to Andromeda, the lore of that family is illustrated in the skies. see at Andromeda. The constellation is also called "the Queen". Poseidon set images of Cepheus and her in the sky. As a punishment for her treachery, her constellation is supposed to represent Cassiopeia either chained to her throne, a ironic reference to Andromeda's ordeal and a wish of Nereids, or stuffed into a basket. Due to its circumpolar position, Cassiopeia at times is suspended upside down in the sky. The constellation was also known to Egyptians like associated with an evil god, the Chinese like a charioteer, and the Celts like home to the king of the Fairies. Region of numerous open clusters. M103 (North of d Cas; might belong to a same group of open clusters with NGC 654 and NGC 659 at 8,000 light-years from the Earth), M52 (one of the densest open clusters), NGC 457 (full of seemingly young, giant stars), NGC 7789 (one of the richest open clusters, at a thousand stars at least)

Centaurus, the Centaur

R.A. 13h, Decl. -50°. 1060°. Southern hemisphere. With the Archer is one of the two centaurs in the sky. Centaurs were part human-part horse creatures. Centaurus is Chiron, king of centaurs. He was a wise man, tutor to mankind, skilled in the healing arts, and a scholar and a prophet. He was the tutor or counselor to Jason, Achilles, Hercules and Asclepius, prominent characters of Greek mythology. Chiron is thought to have taught men to draw constellations as he placed a image of himself in the sky to help guide Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece. Turned tired of his immortal life, or he was accidentally wounded by Hercules -numerous versions of the accident are extant- and entered a torturing pain. He finally was released of his immortality by the gods and offered his life in exchange of the release of Prometheus who had stolen the fire for men. Zeus eventually honored him with a constellation in the sky. Centaurus is one of the largest constellations spanning about 60°. Region of deep sky objects. Centaurus, of course, is home to Rigil Kentaurus, or Alpha Centauri, the third-brightest star in the sky and a beautiful, two yellow-component double star. That AB pair orbits relatively close to each other -- indeed they are orbiting a common center of gravity once every 80 years -- as Alpha Centauri A is of the same stellar type, G2, than our Sun and slightly bigger while Alpha Centauri B, a K1-type star, is slightly smaller. The third member in the system, the faint, 11th-magnitude Alpha Centauri C is a much smaller red dwarf star that travels around the AB pair in a much larger orbit. It is termed Proxima Centauri and is the closest star to Earth, stricto. Rigil Kentaurus forms one of the Centaur's feet. Close to Rigel is first-magnitude, blue Beta Centauri. Both Rigil and Beta Centauri are named the 'Pointers' as they point to the Southern Cross in the southern hemisphere. Centaurus is also home to the famed globular star cluster Omega Centauri Ptolemy first catalogued 2,000 years ago like single star; it was later identified like a globular cluster by 1835 only; it is the biggest and brightest globular cluster in the Milky Way, and one of the few that can be seen by the unaided eye, at the 4th magnitude. Omega Centauri is located at 17,000 light-years and containing more than one million stars as it could be the remnant of a dwarf galaxy gobbled up by our Milky Way Galaxy. Omega Centauri is best seen no farther North that latitude 35 degrees. Centaurus also features the Centaurus A galaxy (also NGC 5128, or Dunlop 482), which is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and thus the ideal target for amateur astronomers. It is famous for the dust lane across its middle and a giant jet blasting away from the supermassive black hole at its center

Cepheus, Cepheus, or the King

R.A. 23h, Decl. +72°. 588°. Northern hemisphere. The constellation is also called "the King". King of Aethiopia, he was the husband to Queen Cassiopeia and father to princess Andromeda. Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda and Perseus who are part of the same Greek lore, are constellations located by the same region in the skies. see at Andromeda. A other Cepheus was king of Tegea, a part of the Peloponesian peninsula in Greece, who sailed with Jason and the Argonauts. Region of deep sky objects. Region of open clusters (GM 1-29 or Gyulbudaghian’s Nebula, a fan-shaped nebulosity changes over a timescale of months). d Cep is the Cepheid stars namesake; like a variable star (passing from the 3.6rd to the 4.3th magnitude within a half day and decreasing during more than 4 days, with a total period of 5.3 days), they allow to measure distances in the Universe

Cetus, the Whale

R.A. 1h, Decl. -11°. 1231°. Northern hemisphere. It is the whale-like sea monster belonging to the Greek myth of Andromeda's family. It was slained by Perseus. The constellation may also be termed 'the Sea Monster.' see at Andromeda. The original Cetus was found on the banks of River Eridanus. Is vast without brighter stars than magnitude 2 however. M77 (galaxy at one degree southeast of d Cet as its spiral arms are accessible to small telescopes, a relatively rare feat). Cetus is home too to the famed Mira variable star, variation from the 2nd to the 10th magnitude of which occurs on a average timespan of 331 days; such variations are due to that Mira Ceti is a red giant puffing its gaseous envelope back and forth. Mira Ceti was the first variable star discovered (by David Fabricius, by 1596)

Chamaeleon, the Chameleon

132° Constellation devised by Bayer or by Pieter Dirksz Keyser and Fredrick de Houtman about 1595-1597

C-I (Circinus, the Compass-Indus, the Indian)

Circinus, the Compass Columba, the Dove Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair Corona Austrina (or Australis), the Southern Crown Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown Corvus, the Crow Crater, the Cup Crux, the Southern Cross Cygnus, the Swan Delphinus, the Dolphin

Dorado, the Swordfish Draco, the Dragon Equuleus, the Little Horse Eridanus, the River Fornax, the Furnace Gemini, the Twins Grus, the Crane Hercules, Hercules, or the Heroe Horologium, the Clock Hydra, the Hydra Hydrus, the Water Serpent Indus, the Indian

Circinus, the Compass

R.A. 15h, Decl. -60°. 93°. Southern hemisphere mostly. Constellation devised by Lacaille during its Cape of Good Hope expedition about 1750. A very small and faint constellation with a shape is reminiscent of a drawing (or drafting) compass of the sort used to plot sea and sky charts

Columba, the Dove

270° Constellation appearing with Bayer, more formally in 1679 by Royer. Seen as the dove of Noah which came back with an olive-tree branch showing that Flood was over. NGC 1851 (a easy globular cluster; mostly lost into the horizon's haze in the northern hemisphere)

Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair

386° Sister and spouse to Ptolemy, sovereign of Egypt. She made the vow to sacrifice her long golden hair to Aphrodite if Ptolemy won over the Assyrians. She did and the hair was mysteriously taken into the sky as her hair, which she had left in a temple, had apparently been stolen. The Coma Cluster is a structure of over a thousand galaxies bound together by gravity and many of the elliptical type, as the outskirts of the cluster also host younger spiral galaxies. M53 (globular cluster resolved at a 150-mm aperture), M64 (Blackeye Galaxy; necessitates excellent sly conditions and excellent optics), M85 (galaxy), M88 (galaxy; member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies), M91 (galaxy; member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies), M98 (galaxy), M99 (galaxy; member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, relatively bright and large, meaning it was one of the first galaxies to be discovered, way back in the 18th century), M100 (galaxy), NGC 4565 (galaxy). Region of galaxies

Corona Austrina (or Australis), the Southern Crown

128° The crown worn by the centaur Chiron or a bunch of arrows handed by him. Or the crown of Bacchus in honor of his mother Semele. One of the 48 constellations of Ptolemy. NGC 6541 (a globular cluster at the 6th magnitude)

Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown

R.A. 16h, Decl. +30°. 179°. Northern hemisphere. Corona Borealis was noticed by many civilizations, but only the Greeks saw it as a crown or wreath as the constellation with that attribution likely was the Southern Crown and part of Ptolemy's 48 constellations. It eventually was attributed to Ariadne's typical Greek woman's crown. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, king of Crete who was yearly levying Athens every ninth year with seven young men and maidens to sacrifice them to the Minotaur, a half man, half bull who was living in a maze under his palace, to appease the death of Minos' son. One year, Theseus, son of sea god Poseidon and a mortal was among the victims. He had been give a jeweled crown by the sea goddess. Ariadne fell in love and gave him a sword and a string against the promise to be taken in Athens and married. Theseus so could kill the Minotaur and find his way back. He fled with Ariadne. On the way he eventually abandonned her at Naxos, and Dyonysus courted her. As she would not believed he was a god, he threw his crown in the sky creating the Northern Crown. Maybe too Theseus' crown put on her head by Dyonisus and later placed into the sky, or simply the crown given to her by Theseus, then placed in the stars by Venus. Other versions of that myth are totally different and with no mention of the supposed origin of constellation Corona Borealis. Middle East civilizations saw it as a broken or cracked dish. Australian aboriginals saw a boomerang. A myth of the Shawnee tribe of Native Americans saw the pattern as a uncomplete group of dancing star maidens

Corvus, the Crow

R. A. 12h, Decl. -20°. 184°. Southern hemisphere. As the constellation mostly consists of four bright stars that form a quadrilateral it better fits the Arab designation of a tent, or the sailor's lore that identifies it as a sail. The reference to Apollo's crow originated from that it was close to constellation Hydra, with its snake shape. That reminded astronomers of a Ovid's fable as the third element, a cup, came also to be represented. The sacred crow of Apollo was sent by the latter to look for a cup of spring water for a libation. The raven, a animal not known for having a serious or respectful attitude, waited for a fig to ripen, hence was late and lied saying he had been attacked by a water serpent -which was not the Hydra, on a other hand- he had taken back as a proof. Apollo banished him, the cup and the water serpent in the sky (the Crow, the Cup, Hydra). As a punishment, the Crow is in sight of the Cup but the latter is guarded by Hydra. Corvus is supposed to harbour Krypton, the home planet to comics hero Superman, a planet which should lie around LHS 2520, a red dwarf about 27.1 light years from Earth, at R.A. 12h 10mn 5.6s and Dec. 15 degree 04' 15.66"

Crater, the Cup

R.A. 11h, Decl. -15°. 282°. Southern hemisphere. Stars involved in Crater, stood near constellation Hydra. That reminded Greek observers of a fable by Ovid about Apollo, involving a crow, a watersnake and a cup see at Corvus. Also with the stars of Corvus was seen like the Ark of the Covenant as the cup is sometimes also associated with Ganymede, the cup bearer to the gods. That constellation holds the NGC 4038 group, which contains the well-known interacting Antennae Galaxies - - as the show is seen just like a question mark with a amateur telescope, at the 11th magnitude - - or the NGC 3981 galaxy. This group is part of the larger Crater Cloud, which is itself a smaller component of the Virgo Supercluster, the titanic collection of galaxies that hosts our own Milky Way galaxy

Crux, the Southern Cross

68° The well known southern sky constellation is paradoxically the smallest constellation in the sky. Invisible above 35° North. By Ptolemy was only a part of the Centaur. Seems to be known as independent to Amerigo Vespucci about 1507. Official by Royer in 1679. Was an aid to southern hemisphere sailors. Region of open clusters

Cygnus, the Swan

R.A. 21h, Decl. +40°. 804°. Northern hemisphere. Cygnus was one of the older constellations recognized by early civilizations. Beginning North of Cygnus, the Milky Way is dividing into two lanes down to Centaurus, a area called the 'Great Rift' and due to dark nebulae. It was first seen as a bird or a hen, but became associated with several Greek myths involving swans due to its characteristic shape. The Swan was associated with the varied stories of Zeus disguising himself to seduce mortals or goddesses but mainly it was with the following story. Cygnus, maybe the son to Aries, was a friend to Phaeton, the son of Apollo. Phaeton tried to drive Apollo chariot. As he lost control and was to put Earth on fire, Zeus killed him. The chariot kept on in the sky creating the Milky Way as Phaeton fell in the River Eridanus. Cygnus dove many times in the river to save him but failed. Zeus turned him into a swan so he could dive more easily. Cygnus, the Swan is also known like the 'Northern Cross' from its distinctive shape. M29 (a open cluster of stars with the 8th-9th magnitudes), M39 (open cluster with a large surface due to its closeness at 800 light-years), the North America nebula (NGC 7000; that famed area is hard to observe with the best a fast focal ratio telescope), the Veil Nebula (the Veil Nebula was discovered on 5 September 1784 by astronomer William Herschel; it is the remnant of a supernova event supposed to have happened some 5000–10,000 years ago), the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888, 10th mag.) at about 5000 light-years is the remnant of a shell of material shed by a star which went red giant some 200,000 years ago. Region of open clusters

Delphinus, the Dolphin

189° Either a dolphin rode by Poseidon (Neptune) when he courted Amphitrite or a dolphin which helped a court Greek poet to escape seamen who wanted to rob and kill him

Dorado, the Swordfish

R.A. 05h, Decl -65°. 179°. Southern hemisphere. Constellation in the shape of a fish, appearing with Bayer (1603) or among the 11 constellations devised by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. The fish species to which the constellation is referring was often mistaken, lile a swordfish as the dorado is the dorado subspecies of the dolphinfish), with a iridescent golden hue. Home to the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is located at 160,000 light-years from the Earth (LMC; astronomers originally thought that both Magellanic clouds were orbiting our Milky Way galaxy but recent research suggest that they might be moving too fast to be bound by the Milky Way's gravity and are passing by for the first time. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, are barred, indicating that they may have once been barred spiral galaxies that were disrupted or torn apart by the gravitational pull of the Milky Way. The LMC is a hotbed of vigorous star formation as with its interstellar gas and dust, the galaxy is home to approximately 60 globular clusters and 700 open clusters frequently the subject of professional astronomical research. The SMC also features such characteristics. The LMC is also home to the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070), one of the largest and most intense regions of active star formation known to exist anywhere in our galactic neighborhood, which comes with the NGC 2070 cluster. The Tarantula Nebula is located at at 160,000 light-years away and spanning more than 1,000 light-year), galaxies

Draco, the Dragon

R.A. 17h, Decl. +65deg. 1083°. Northern hemisphere. There is a multitude of myths associated with Draco. The area, 4,000 years ago was home to Polaris as dragons and other such creatures were often in association with early creation myths where gods are fighting those. Thuban, or a Draconis, that ancient North star, is a eclipsing binary. The dragon in the Babylonian creation story was female Tiamat which, once defeated and split, turned the heavens and the Earth as Egyptians saw Draco as a hippopotamus or crocodile god and goddess as Indians a crocodile. The idea of battle between gods and early powers reappeared with the Greeks where Titan Cronus, warned that one of his sons would dethrone him, was devoring those. His wife Rhea tricked him into swallowing a stone instead of Zeus but Cronus, pursuing Zeus, had the latter turned himself into a a serpent et his nurses into two bears. Hence Draco and Ursa Major and Minor might commemorate (or Draco might have been a dragon sent by ancient gods and defeated by Athena). Draco was seen too as the guardian of the celestial pole which was the doorway between Earth and eternity. Might also be dragon Ladon which guarded Hera's garden and the golden apple tree as it was killed by Hercules as his eleventh labor of Hercules. Contains the fine, but small, NGC 6543 planetary nebula

Equuleus, the Little Horse

72° Ancient constellation, known since Antiquity. Second smallest constellation. Thought to be the brother to Pegasus which was given by Mercury to Castor. Is seen rising just before Pegasus

Eridanus, the River

1138° Known since the Antiquity and already then seen as a river. Sometimes the river of the Underworld. One Ptolemy 48 constellations. Maybe the Nile

Fornax, the Furnace

R.A. 03h, Decl. -30°. 398°. Southern hemisphere. Constellation devised by Lacaille. Originally 'Fornax Chemica,' the Chemical Furnace,' the constellation was named in honor of Antoine Lavoisier, a 18th century French scientist, a major figure in the development of modern chemistry with a theory of combustion and chemical reactions. He trained a young Frenchman named Irenee du Pont who emigrated to the United States and founded the du Pont company. As a member of a company that collected taxes and fees for the French monarchy, Lavoisier was guillotined during the Reign of Terror in the later part of the French Revolution. The Fornax Cluster, a cluster of galaxies lying at 62 million light-years, NGC 1316 (at the 8th mag. it is accessible to small telescopes albeit low on the horizon in the northern hemisphere; NGC 1316 is a galaxy that experienced a dynamic history, being formed by the merger of multiple smaller galaxies), NGC 1398 (barely higher on the horizon to northerners at the 9th mag.). Galaxies

Gemini, the Twins

R.A. 07h, Decl. +20°. 514°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Mostly related to the Greek legend of Castor, a mortal and Polydeuces, immortal (Pollux in Latin), twins bord to Queen Leda of Sparta from two different fathers, the latter from Zeus disguised as a swan (who also generated Helen of Troy at the occasion). King Tyndareus of Sparta adopted Polydeuces and the twins, raised by Centaurus Chiron, became known as the Dioscuri. A same story of twins, Idas and Lynceus, had occurred with the half-brother of King Tyndareus and Poseidon. A feud occurred between both sets of twins as they reconciled to participate to Jason's voyage for the Golden Fleece. The twins feud broke again as the only survivor of fights was Polydeuces only. He wished not to outlive Castor and refused immortality unless the latter could share it. Zeus allowed them to split their time in the heavens and under the Earth and he put a image of twins in the sky to honor their brotherly love. In China that constellation symbolizes the ying and the yang. The Greek twins are still known today to sailors as St. Elmos fire, twin balls of lightening hitting ships rigging. M35 (open cluster; very spectacular with binoculars). Of not that d Gem is the (double) star close to which Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto. Region of open clusters

Grus, the Crane

366° Constellation devised by Bayer (1603) or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597

Hercules, Hercules, or the Heroe

R.A. 17h, Decl. +30°. 1225°. Northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. Herakles -Hercules in Latin- was the son of Queen Alcmene of Tirynthus and Zeus disguised like Alcmene's husband, King Amphitryon. He was named 'Hercules' meaning 'glorious gift of Hera,' Zeus' wife. Hera thus turned the lifelong ennemy of Hercules, aiming to turn his life miserable. Hercules first killed his own wife and children. Apollo, the Delphic oracle, counseled the heroe to complete 12 tasks to cleanse his soul from madness. During those, Hercules killed the Nemean Lion hence the constellation of the Lion; he killed the monster Hydra hence the constellation, or subdued the Minotaur -which might be the Bull. During those works, Hercules kept enduring the inimity of Hera. The latter then eventually had his second wife, Deianira, lured by a centaur, Nessos, into giving Hercules a cloak -hence the famed Nessos' tunic- to keep his love but the heros began to burn in the cloak with severe pain. As he wanted to lay on a fire lit of Mount Oeta, Zeus could convince Hera that Hercules' pain had been enough to satiate her anger, what she agreed in and she sent Athena to recover Hercules and bring and place him among the gods on Mount Olympus due to his bravery. At his death Hercules was placed in the sky by Zeus. The constellation was known to the Greeks as the "Kneeling One." M13 (globular cluster; Hercules's Great Globular Cluster is numbering over 100,000 stars and one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. It is located by 25,000 light-years away, is 12 billion years old as the stars crowd into 150 light-years of diameter. M13 was first mentioned by Edmund Halley in 1715 as he had discovered it the previous year. Halley noted that M13 is seen naked eye with a serene sky and no Moon), M92 (one of the finest globular cluster to observe; it shines at the 6.5th magnitude)

Horologium, the Clock

249° Constellation devised by Lacaille

Hydra, the Hydra

R.A. 10h, Decl.: -20°. 1303°. Northern and southern hemisphere. The longest constellation in the sky. Maybe originating into a Babylonian legend in which the hero Gilgamesh killed a seven-headed monster, the hydra of that constellation is associated with the legend of Herakles' second labor. Hydra, a fresh-water serpent, was born to Echidne, a half woman, half serpent, and Typhon, associated with destructive winds, smoke and ash from volcanic eruptions, and desert irocco, or Egyptian god Set. With such a ascendency, Hydra turned a dog-like body with eight or nine snake heads, or even hundreds or thousands, one of those immortal, and hydra's breath could destroy life, and her blood was highly poisonous. It had her den beneath a plane tree at the source of the river Amymone, and lived in the Lernaen swamp where shrines to Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, and Aphrodite stood nearby. It was also the spot where god Hades and deity Persephone were supposed to have entered the Underworld. Hydra terrorized the district. Hera, the lifelong ennemy of Hercules, is said tohave raised the Hydra specifically as a menace to Heracles. Athena helped the heroe into against Hydra as he forced it out of its den with burning arrows. He held his breath while wrestling with her but, as he was nearly overwhelmed by the renewed heads of Hydra, and bitten by a crab on the foot, he eventually won over as Iolus, his chariot driver, finally started a fire in a grove. With that constant supply of burning branches he scorched the roots of the severed heads, preventing new ones and he eventually severed the immortal head. Hercules dipped his arrows in Hydra's blood having then from now on, fatal. Heracles did not get credit for accomplishing this labor because Iolus had provided crucial help. Hydra was placed in the sky by Zeus as it also, in a other myth, guarding the cup from the Crow. check at Corvus. Hydra is the largest constellation of the sky. M48 (open cluster; easily accessible), M68 (globular cluster), M83 (galaxy; one of the brightest in the southern skies as it is a difficult object above 45° of latitude; features 4 supernovae on a 50-year timespan), NGC 3242 (planetary nebula, "The Ghost of Jupiter" at the 9th mag.). Region of deep sky objects

Hydrus, the Water Serpent

R.A. 02h, Decl. -75°. 243°. Southern hemisphere. Constellation deviced by Bayer (1603) or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. Hydrus looks like a rearing snake

Indus, the Indian

294° Constellation devised by Bayer (1603) or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597

L-P (Lacerta, the Lizard-Pisces, the Fishes)

Lacerta, the Lizard Leo, the Lion Leo Minor, the Little Lion Lepus, the Hare Libra, the Scales Lupus, the Wolf Lynx, the Lynx Lyra, the Lyre Mensa, the Table Microscopium, the Microscope Monoceros, the Unicorn Musca, the Fly

Norma, the Square Octans, the Octant Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder Orion, Orion, or the Hunter Pavo, the Peacock Pegasus, the Winged Horse Perseus, Perseus Phoenix, the Phoenix Pictor, the Easel Pisces, the Fishes

Lacerta, the Lizard

201° Constellation devised by Hevelius ca. 1687. Before Royer had placed there the "Sceptre" in honor to Louis XIV, King of France. Bode had there the Sceptre of Fredrick the Great, King of Germany. Open clusters

Leo, the Lion

947° One of the constellation of the zodiac. The Nemean Lion killed by Hercules as one of his Twelve Labors. The Nemean Lion had fell from the Moon on Earth as a meteor. He was ravaging the countryside around Corinth. Lion's skin rendered Hercules invincible. Is now in the sky with Hercules. M65 (galaxy. West of M66 and seen edge-on), M66 (galaxy), M95 (galaxy), M96 (galaxy; close to M95 and seen like a whitish patch), M105 (galaxy), NGC 2903 (galaxy; at the 8th mag.), NGC 3628 (a galaxy seen edge-on), Wolf 359 (mag. 13.6 red dwarf, one of our closest neighbours with Alpha Centauri and Barnard's star). Region of galaxies

Leo Minor, the Little Lion

232° Constellation created by Hevelius ca. 1687. In China are associated to the Lion to form a huge celestial dragon or a chariot. NGC 2859 (a spiral galaxy at the 10th magnitude located at 40' East of a Lyn), NGC 3344 (9.9th mag., at 20 million light-years away, a galaxy seen from a breathtaking face-on perspective; half the size of the Milky Way, it is classified as a weakly barred spiral galaxy)

Lepus, the Hare

290°, A hare hiding at the feet of Orion as the latter pursues the Bull. Or the hare itself being chased by Orion. M79 (globular cluster). Home to Hind's Crimson Star

Libra, the Scales

538° Was originally belonging to the constellation of the Scorpion. Its two main stars were the Scorpion's claws. Was scales to the Romans. Mostly known as scales or as a scorpion's claws

Lupus, the Wolf

334° Known since the Antiquity. Long known as Therion, an unknown wild animal which was maybe linked to the centaur Chiron. Deep sky objects

Lynx, the Lynx

545° Or the Tiger. Constellation devised by Hevelius ca. 1687. Lynx is due not to a resemblance to the feline animal but as sensitive eyes of a cat are needed to see that faint constellation

Lyra, the Lyre

286° A Vulture in very ancient worlds. Vega was the "Vulture Star". Seen as a harp by Greeks (instrument inventend by Mercury and given to Apollo his half-brother; the latter eventually gave it to his son Orpheus, musician of the Argonauts expedition). Remained however long depicted as a harp in a vulture's claws or an eagle's. In China, Japan and Korea, Altair, Aquila's brightest star, is part of a myth related to Vega. Altair represents a royal herdsman and Vega represents the Sun king. The herdsman falls in love with the king's daughter and marries her, but they are banished to opposite sides of a 'river,' the Milky Way for being so in love that they neglected their duties. They are said to be able to reunite when magpies span the river. The birds might have been inspired by the two bird-shaped constellations, Aquila and Cygnus, that appear in this area of the Milky Way. This love story is still nowadays celebrated by a Japanese festival. M56 (globular cluster), M57 (Ring planetary nebula; at the 8.8th magnitude, the Ring Nebula is already accessible to a good pair of binoculars as a 6-inch aperture will allow to a evident ring shape only. The surface temperature of the central white dwarf star is of 216,000° F. The nebula is about 2,000 light-years from us and roughly 1 light-year across. Not like a bagel but rather a jelly doughnut, as filled with material in the middle, the ring wraps around a blue, football-shaped structure with each end of the structure protruding out of opposite sides of the ring. The nebula is tilted toward Earth so that astronomers see the ring face-on. The central white dwarf, at the 14.7th magnitude is accessible with a 350mm telescope only), Epsilon Lyrae (the famous "double-double;" close to Vega it was spotted as such by English astronomer William Herschel by 1779 A.D.; necessitates a 75mm of aperture), Steph 1, or the Delta Lyrae cluster (the field to d Lyr is easy to find, as a small telescope allows to immediately spot that open cluster (3.8th mag.) close to the star, a set of small, feeble, but sparkling stars arranged in a circle; to see)

Mensa, the Table

R.A. 05h, Decl. -80°. 153°. Southern hemisphere. Constellation devised by Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille in the 1700's. His original name for the constellation was, in Latin, Mons Mensae, translated as 'table mountain,' named from the high promontory near Capetown, South Africa. The name was shortened to Mensa ('table') by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) when it adopted the 88 modern constellations recognized today. I might also have been a mere explorer's table

Microscopium, the Microscope

210° Constellation devised by Lacaille

Monoceros, the Unicorn

R.A. 07h, Decl. -05°. 482°. Northern and southern hemisphere. That constellation is lying on the Galactic equator. It is a modern constellation formulated by German scientist Jakob Bartsch about 1624. It is composed of faint star between Canis Major, Canis Minor, Orion, Gemini and Hydra. Likely a reference to the unicorn of medieval and renaissance legends as it can also refer to a far older (3rd millenium B.C.), Assyrian one-horned beast, part lion, stag and horse which might have been a distorted and embellished interpretation of a rhinoceros. Messier object: M50. Contains two most massive stars discovered yet (two blue-giants, 55 times Sun's size and revolving about each other; known as Plaskett's Star), NGC 2244 (the Rosette Nebula; it is visible through a small telescope or good pair of binoculars as the star cluster was discovered by English astronomer John Flamsteed around 1690 and the nebula itself -the remnant of the stars' formation- by John Herschel, the son of William Herschel and discoverer of infrared light by 1840. With the ionized hydrogen gas created by stars radiation, the nebula is a HII region. The nebula is accessible mostly to astrophotography only), NGC 2264 (the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula (4th mag.)). Region of open clusters

Musca, the Fly

138° Originally devised by Bayer in 1603 as "Apis", the Bee or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. Edmond Halley later called it Musca Apis, the Fly Bee. Eventually Lacaille called it Musca Australis, the Southern Fly (to distinguish it from the Northern Fly which existed on the back of the Ram). As the Northern Fly does not exist anymore, the Southern Fly became the Fly only, Musca. Open clusters

Norma, the Square

165° Constellation devised by Lacaille. Norma was part, with current Centaurus, of constellation Ara and known like Turibulum, the Censer by the Romans, a name which lasted until in the 18th century when constellation Norm turned independent. Region of open clusters

Octans, the Octant

291° Constellation devised by Lacaille. It is the constellation where the south celestial pole is located. Contrarily to the Little Bear, there is no equivalent to Polaris however. Oddly Amerigo Vespucci recorded about 20 stars brighter than Venus and Jupiter in the region

Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder

R.A. 17h, Decl. 0°. 948°. Northern and southern hemisphere. A constellation close to the celestial equator. A figure of a man entwinded with two snakes, one in each hand, it is a ancient constellation, as most often associated with Asclepios, the son of Apollo and Coronis, considered the founder of medicine which he was taught by his father Apollo and his tutor, Centaur Chiron. He turned the Argonauts expedition surgeon. Serpents are linked to medicine as herbs finders or a symbol of healing and rebirth because they slough their skins every year. Several Greek myths concern Ophiuchus like he tried to save the life of Orion and struck by Zeus, that he could raise people from the dead through one of two vials of Medusa's blood given to him by Athena, and, most of all, that Hades, the god of the Underworld, was angered by Asclepios' skills, arguing that souls were being stolen from him. He persuaded Zeus, his brother, to kill Asclepius and decree that all human be mortals. Zeus later relented and restored Asclepius to life, and put his image in the stars. Such Greek beliefs may have been influenced by Babylonian legends. M9 (globular cluster; accessible; at the mag. 7.9), M10 (globular cluster; easy, close to M12), M12 (globular cluster), M14 (globular cluster), M19 (globular cluster; the only one with a oval shape; at the mag. 7.2), M62 (globular cluster), M107 (globular cluster), NGC 6369 (planetary nebula), the Barnard Star (the closest non-double star to us, at 6 light-years, a weak red dwarf at the 9.5th mag. and the star with the largest proper motion in the sky, at 10.29' a year; a good star atlas is needed to spot that star), r Ophiuchi is a multiple star system at the 4.6th magnitude, lying barely above Antares and located inside a star forming region, the easiest to observe because it is the nearest to us, at 424 light-years away. Region of globular clusters. Open clusters

Orion, Orion, or the Hunter

R.A. 05h, Decl. -05°. 594°. Northern and southern hemisphere. That constellation is located on the celestial equator. A human figure was recognized by many ancient cultures in that area of the sky due to that position at mid-sky. In India they saw the figure of a king shot by a arrow (the Orion's Belt) as Egyptians thought the stars in the belt represented the resting place to god Osiris' soul, and the Arabs the figure of a giant. The figure of Orion came from Greek stories about a legendary hunter, coming in several variants as some are likely derived from more ancient cultures. Orion's birth myths are related to water: he is the son to sea-god Poseidon as one is related to a ancient African rain-making charm. That might be linked to seasonal rains which came near the rising and setting of the constellation. Orion rising, on a other hand, signaled grapes harvest (midnight rise), early summer (morning rise) or winter coming (evening rise). Generally, Orion was banished to the sky for boasting about how many animals he would kill, to impress Eos, and he and his hunting dogs, Canis Major and Minor, chase the constellations representing animals, but can never catch them. The myth into which Artemis intervenes like loving Orion but is tricked by his brother Apollo to kill him with a arrow, might be related to a similar Hittite legend of the battle-goddess Anat. Orion is also connected to being stung to death by a scorpion which translates into that both were placed into the sky, either side of the sky however, with one constellation rising when the other is setting! Such scorpion is also seen in a Egyptian myth about Horus, the son to Isis and Osiris, or the Babylonian story of Gilgamesh as more Greek stories are available about. Orion had been blinded by the father of a Greek princess he had fell in love with; he regained his sight looking at Sun at dawn; he then saw Aurora the goddess of dawn. M42 (the Great Orion Nebula; M42 is a vast glowing cloud of gas and dust, approximately 1,600 light years away and 30 light years across, as the glow is produced by the strong ultraviolet radiation of four hot stars entangled within; the Orion Nebula generally is the brightest part of a huge stellar nursery, or the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex extending in a arc from the Orion's Belt, where new stars are being born, and is the closest site of massive star formation to Earth with massive stellar winds shaping the surrounding clouds into convoluted forms. M42 is visible naked-eye as it was believed to be the cosmic fire of creation by the Maya of Mesoamerica (the famed Trapezium Cluster, or Theta-1 Orionis, found at the center of M42, is made up of hot young, blue-white stars that are only a few million years old; 4th magnitude, 1,600 light years away, resolvable with 5-inch telescopes; easy to identify because the brightest four stars form an asterism shaped like a trapezoid), M43 (diffuse nebula), M78 (a diffuse, reflection nebula illuminated by the light of nearby stars and located at 1,600 light years from Earth, it contains more than 40 very young stars still in the process of formation), NGC 1773-75-77 (nebulosity North of M42), NGC 2022 (planetary nebula), NGC 2024 (the Flame nebula), IC 434 (the famed Horsehead nebula; accessible mostly to astrophotography; Orion's Horsehead Nebula is an iconic interstellar feature and a prime laboratory for studying star formation processes). NGC 1788, or the Cosmic Bat, was first described by the German British astronomer William Herschel as a brightest star is at the 10th magnitude. Region of open clusters. Nebulae

Pavo, the Peacock

378° Constellation devised by Bayer in 1603 or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. Pavo is Argos, the builder of the Argonauts' ship, Argo Navis. The builder was transformed into a peacock when the boat itself was placed among the stars. NGC 6744 (8.3th mag.), by 30 million light years away and twice as big as the Milky Way is a nice observable analog to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Its brightness makes it is easily visible. NGC 6752 is a fine globular cluster as at the 5.4th magnitude, it's the third-brightest globular cluster in the sky

Pegasus, the Winged Horse

R.A. 22h, Decl. +20°. 1121°. Northern and southern hemisphere. Pegasus, the winged horse, was the son to sea-god Poseidon and Medusa as Athena had changed the latter into a terrible monster. Medusa was killed by Perseus check at Perseus and from its body, sea foam and sand, Pegasus sprang. Riding Pegasus, Perseus kept his story. Zeus, generally, kept Pegasus out of the world to placate Athena as the horse lived on Mount Helicon, tended by the Muses for whom he created a drinking well. Bellerophon, a young man accused of murder, seeking refuge, was falsely accused again, and sent by king Iobates of Lycia to such a difficult task he would not return. He had been asked to kill the Chimaera, a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. Bellerophon consulted a seer who advised him to catch and tame Pegasus, which he did -with or without gods' help. He overcame Chimera by flying above her and shooting her with arrows, and then forcing a lump of lead down her throat which melted from her fiery breath and burned her insides. After several other tasks, Bellerophon eventually regained his integrity, and one daughter and heredity to the kingdom of Iobates. But, intoxicated by his success, he attempted to fly Pegasus to Olympus, as if he were an immortal god, which angered Zeus who sent a horsefly to bite Pegasus. Pegasus reared and Bellerophon fell to Earth, landing in a thorn bush. He spent the rest of his life wandering lame, blind, and shunned. Pegasus, as far as he was concerned, was accepted at Olympus where he carried Zeus's thunderbolts, or was the thundering horse to Zeus. M15 (globular cluster; easily accessible to amateurs), NGC 7177 (galaxy), NGC 7331 (galaxy), NGC 7332 (galaxy), NGC 7479 (galaxy). The constellation is home to NGC 7479 or Stephan's Quintet which unluckily is out of reach to amateurs; it was discovered by astronomer Edouard Stephan in 1877

Perseus, Perseus

R.A. 03h, Decl. +45°. 615°. Northern Hemisphere. Perseus' grandfather, King Acrisius of Argos was warned by a oracle that he would be killed by his grandson and he locked his daughter Danae into a dungeon. Zeus however found a way into as disguised as a shower of gold. That gave birth to Perseus. Acrisius locked Danae and Perseus in a wooden chest thrown into the sea. They eventually landed on the island of Seriphos and offered refuge by King Polydectes who considered seducing Danae. Perseus, unaware of that, promised a extravagant gift to the king's marriage, the head of Medusa. Medusa was one of three sisters who had been transformed into a hideous creature by the goddess Athena for cause of a liaison with Poseidon in one of her temples. Also known as the Gorgon, Medusa had serpents for hair, huge teeth, and a protruding tongue as any glance at it turned people to stone. Athena helped Perseus with magic equipment and gave him a shield to use as a mirror. Perseus flew to the Gorgon's den with his winged sandals, and, using the shield as a mirror, cut off Medusa's head and buried her. The winged horse, Pegasus, and a warrior, Chrysaor, emerged fully grown out of Medusa's body, a product of her liaison with Poseidon. They, and Medusa's two sisters chased after Perseus, but he escaped and made his way back to Seriphos. Refused hospitality by Titan Atlas, he used the Gorgon's head to turn him into a mountain; he rescued Andromeda -hence his name also of 'Rescuer of Andromeda'- chained to a cliff to appease a Poseidon's sea monster, and married her, using the Medusa's head to defeat a attack by her relatives and eventually, he rescued his mother Danae from marrying Polydectes, turning him and his court to stone. As far as his grandfather, King Acrisius, is concerned, Perseus, according to the oracle, came to be with him in a same place and he was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by Perseus in funeral games. Perseus was placed in the skies near Andromeda as its constellation is usually depicted showing him holding Medusa's head, with the bright star Algol marking the eye see at Andromeda. M34 (open cluster), M76 (Dumbell planetary nebula), NGC 859-884 (the famous Perseus Double Cluster; it is available well resolved with small binoculars and like two fuzzy patches with the naked eye. Each cluster is holding more than 300 stars). California Nebula (NGC 1499, located about 1,000 light-years from Earth, the nebula looks more than a little like the Golden State when viewed by visible-light telescopes). The constellation is home to the 2.86 day famous eclipse-variable star Algol. Region of open clusters (Alpha Per moving cluster, or Mel 20, below Mirphak is a wide open cluster to have a look at); the Perseus cluster, located 240 million light-years away, is the brightest galaxy cluster in X-rays and among the most massive near Earth containing thousands of galaxies

Phoenix, the Phoenix

469° Constellation devised by Bayer in 1603 or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. May have been thought as a constellation when Sirius and the Sun rose together in July 139 AD

Pictor, the Easel

R.A. 06h, Decl. -55°. 247°. Southern hemisphere. Pictor is one of the modern southern constellations deviced by Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille. He originally called the constellation 'Equuleus Pictoris,' the Painter's Easel, referring to the wooden sawhorse-like stand which formed the common type of easel in Lacaille's time. The name was later shortened to 'Pictor.'

Pisces, the Fishes

R.A. 01h, Decl. +15°. 889°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Many ancient Middle East civilizations, as the reasons remain obscure, associated stars in Pisces with one, or two fishes. Greeks and then Roman associated the constellation with a myth of the early power struggles between early creational beings. As mother Earth Gaia had created Titans -associated to planets- like the first gods and many semi-human races like Cyclopes and a race of giants. Cronus, one of the Titans, was the father to Olympian gods as his son Zeus eventually waged war against them, vainquishing the Titans to Tartarus Mount. The giants, Titans' brothers counter-attacked the Olympians and also lost. In revenge for the destruction of her children, Mother Earth produced Typhon, said to be the largest, fiercest monster ever born. He was said to be covered in serpents, to have wings which blotted out the Sun, to have a head which touched the stars, and he breathed fire and hurled rocks from his mouth. He first made the Olympians to flee, disguised a animals. Aphrodite, the love-goddess et his son, Eros, took the form of a fish and they tied themselves with a string not to turn separated. After several setbacks the gods rallied through a combination of stealth and Zeus' might and they chased Typhon to Sicily where Zeus dropped Mount Aetna upon him, the area keeping, being a volcano! In the constellation Pisces, a star midway between both fishes represents the knot on the string linking Aphrodite and Eros. Pisces became the place for the vernal equinox about Jesus Christ's birth as Ram was until then and as this period was marked by a remarkable closeness of Jupiter and Saturn the latter might have been the famous bright star which guided the Wise Men to Bethlehem. M74 (galaxy; hard to observe; need dark skies)

P-V (Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish-Vulpecula, the Little Fox)

Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish Puppis, the Ship's Stern Pyxis, the Ship's Compass Reticulum, the Reticle Sagitta, the Arrow Sagittarius, the Archer Scorpius, the Scorpion Sculptor, the Sculptor Scutum, the Shield Serpens, the Serpent Sextans, the Sextant Taurus, the Bull

Telescopium, the Telescope Triangulum, the Triangle Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle Tucana, the Toucan Ursa Major, the Great Bear Ursa Minor, the Little Bear Vela, the Ship's Sails Virgo, the Virgin Volans, the Flying Fish Vulpecula, the Little Fox

Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish

R.A. 22h, Decl. -30.2°. 245°. Northern and southern hemisphere. The ancient fish constellation, Piscis Austrinus or Piscis Australe, is one of the original 48 constellations noted by Ptolemy. It was referred to as Piscis Notius ('notius' for 'southern') before the 20th century. Piscis Austrinus might have been associated with several ancient cultures, like the fish god Dagon among the Assyrians or the Egyptian god of waves Oannes, source of knowledge. Piscis Austrinus, generally, was believed by the ancients to be a fish laying on its back 'drinking the starry water from Aquarius's urn.' The Arabs later referred to the constellation as Al Hut al Janubiyy, meaning 'the large Southern Fish.' The constellation bright star, Fomalhaut, it located at the fish's mouth. Star Lacaille 9352, at 12 light-years is the 4th star with a swift proper motion in the sky at the 7.4th mag.; some instrument may spot it moving on the starry background on a timescale of some years; it is located at 1 degree South of p PsA

Puppis, the Ship's Stern

673° Stern of the ship Argo. South of Puppis is Carina, the Keel. In the region are Pyxis, the Compass and Vela, the Sails. M46 (open cluster; at the 6.1th mag. it holds a planetary nebula (NGC 2438) which indeed is lying in the foreground at the 10th magnitude), M47 (open cluster; easily accessible), M93 (open cluster; easy), NGC 2440 (planetary nebula; that planetary nebula lies at about 4,000 light-years from Earth as its chaotic structure suggests that the star shed its mass episodically in a different direction), NGC 2467 (the Skull and Crossbones Nebula and open cluster, at the 7.1th magnitude). Region of numerous open clusters

Pyxis, the Ship's Compass

221° Constellation devised by Lacaille about 1750 using stars which were part of the ship Argo. Open clusters

Reticulum, the Reticle

114° Constellation devised by Lacaille or simply adopted by him (might have been devised by Issak Habrecht of Strassburg as the Rhombus). NGC 1559, a 11th magnitude barred spiral galaxy, at 50 million light-years away, a lonely galaxy belonging to no group. It was home to a number of supernovae

Sagitta, the Arrow

R.A 18h, decl. +20.2°. 80°. Northern hemisphere. Throughout history, the Sagitta constellation was generally referred to as the 'arrow' in the native languages of the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. The label that endured the test of time is the Roman reference, 'sagitta.' For the Greeks, that arrow was that used by Hercules in his 11th labor, to bring back Zeus' golden apples, to kill Zeus' eagle which was tormenting Titan Prometheus for having stolen fire from gods and given it to men. Sagitta might also be a arrow shot by Centaurus Sagittarius at Scorpius, the scorpion. Eratosthenes, an astronomer of the Hellenistic period, considered Sagitta to be the arrow from Apollo that dealt a killing blow to a Cyclopes in the story of Aeneid. Sagitta in the third smallest constellation. M71 (globular, or open cluster; at the 8th magnitude)

Sagittarius, the Archer

R.A. 19h, Decl. -25°. 867°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Several earlier civilizations in the Mesopotamian area associated the constellation with their god of war, variants of the archer-god Nergal. By the Greeks, Sagittarius is commonly thought to represent a centaur, a war-like creature with the torso of a man and the body of a horse. Sagittarius is most often associated with Crotus, the son of Pan (the goat-god) and Eupheme (the Muses' nurse). Crotus, who was raised by the Muses, became a skilled hunter who also absorbed a love of the arts from the Muses. The Muses begged Zeus to honor him with a constellation. The Arabs named a number of prominent stars in the constellation after parts of a human body and parts of a bow and arrow, indicating that they too associated this constellation with a archer. Or a constellation devised by Chiron to guide the Argonauts to Colchis. Sagittarius, the Archer is a centaur aiming a arrow to Scorpius, the Scorpion. Sagittarius is home to the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, near the star El Nasl. The Sagittarius Star Cloud is the brightest part of the Milky Way. Our Milky Way Galaxy (with the center of it in that constellation, our Milky Way is brightest there and a fine show with binoculars or a small telescope. At 27,000 light-years from us, the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden behind dark nebulae), M8 (Lagoon Nebula; with M42 in Orion it is the other large nebula seeable naked-eye in the northern hemisphere; easily seeable like a nebulosity holding a open cluster. The nebula, at 4,000 light-years is a vast stellar nursery as bright star Herschel 36 stellar winds is carving into. With binoculars, the Lagoon Nebula is seen as merely a smudge of light with a bright core), M17 (Omega or Swan Nebula), M18 (open cluster), M20 (Trifid Nebula; at some more than 1 degree North of the Lagoon Nebula. The Trifid Nebula glows brightly in both the pink emission from ionised hydrogen and the blue haze of scattered light from hot young stars. Huge clouds of light-absorbing dust are also prominent; the Trifid holds its name from the dark structure dividing it into three), M21 (open cluster; just close to the Trifid Nebula), M22 (globular cluster; one of the finest of the whole sky), M23 (open cluster; easy), M24 (Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, a separated part of Milky Way), M25 (open cluster; easy), M28 (globular cluster), M54 (globular cluster; maybe a galaxy, it is seen like a spherical nebulosity in small telescopes), M55 (globular cluster), M69 (globular cluster), M70 (globular cluster; albeit seeable very faintly with binoculars in dark skies, that globular cluster is gravitating close to the Milky Way center), M75 (globular cluster), NGC 6440 (globular cluster), NGC 6445 (planetary nebula), NGC 6603 (open cluster), NGC 6818 (planetary nebula), NGC 6822 (Barnard's galaxy). Open clusters. Globular clusters. Deep sky objects

Scorpius, the Scorpion

497° The scorpion which killed Orion. M4 (globular cluster; seeable at the naked-eye with dark skies at some more than 1 degree from Antares), M6 (Butterfly cluster; a fine view), M7 (open cluster; or NGC 6475; easily spotted naked eye and spread on a 1-degree width, it contains about 100 stars and is located 800 light-years from Earth, with a age of 200 millions years and a span of 25 light-years; it was first described by astronomer Ptolemy, like a 'nebula following the sting of Scorpius' as M7 is sometimes called 'Ptolemy's Cluster,' in his honour), M80 (globular cluster; it is located on the line Antares-b Sco), NGC 6144 (globular cluster just 1° from Antares), NGC 6231 (open cluster; False Comet Nebulous; a open cluster at the 2.6th mag., it is located about 5,200 light years from Earth and discovered in 1654 by Giovanni Battista Hodierna, a Italian mathematician and priest; it shows how a cluster looks after the end of star formation). Region of open clusters. Globular clusters

Sculptor, the Sculptor

R.A. 24h, Decl. -30°. 475°. Southern hemisphere. Sculptor is one of the modern southern constellations named by Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille during his stay at the observatory at the Cape of Good Hope between 1750 and 1754. Sculptor which takes up a large but obscure region of the sky, was originally named L' Atelier du Sculpteur (the Sculptor's Workshop), but like many other of Lacaille's constellations, the name was shortened and became the Sculptor. Home to the Sculptor galaxy cluster. In there the Sculptor galaxy (NGC 253), a active galaxy, is seen with a pair of good binoculars

Scutum, the Shield

R.A. 19h, Decl. -10°. 109°. Southern hemisphere. A modern constellation, which was originally named 'Scutum Sobiescianum,' Latin for 'Shield of Sobieski' by reference by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, in 1690, to King John III Sobieski of Poland (1674-1696). Jan III was a strong defensor of the Holy Roman Empire, at the siege of Vienna, Austria in 1683, against the Ottomans which pushed at Europe's eastern borders. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire at Vienna was considered a major victory by Europeans. Scutum is supposed representing John III's coat of arms. M11 (open cluster; also NGC 6705 or the Wild Duck Cluster. First discovered by German astronomer Gottfried Kirch in 1681 at the Berlin Observatory, and resolved into separate stars by the Reverend William Derham in England as Charles Messier added it to his famous catalogue in 1764. M11 is 20 light-years across and home to to 3000 stars and one of the most star-rich and compact open cluster; easily accessible to small telescopes and fine), M26 (open cluster; at the 8th mag.). Region of open clusters

Serpens, the Serpent

637° It is the only constellation which is separated into two parts. Serpent Caput, the Serpent's Head is 429°, Serpens Cauda, the Serpent's Tail is 208°. Each part is on each side of Ophiuchus. see at Serpent Holder M5 (globular cluster; one of the finest and easily accessible; M5 is 165 light-years in diameter as it lies some 25,000 light-years away. M5 is one of the oldest globulars, its stars estimated to be nearly 13 billion years old), M16 (Eagle nebula and cluster; the nebula is 6,500 light-years away as the NGC6611 cluster is easily accessible; inside the nebula's cavity and pillars are located the pillars made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope under the name of Pillars of Creation in 1995; more than two-thirds of 1,700 X-ray sources found there are likely young stars)

Sextans, the Sextant

314° Devised by Hevelius (?) Is an astronomer's sextant not a mariner's

Taurus, the Bull

R.A. 04h, Decl. +15°. 797°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Taurus is among the very oldest of the zodiacal constellations. At the apogee of ancient Mediterranean and Middle East civilizations, Sun was reaching to Taurus by spring, a season marking the new year for such herding and agricultural civilizations, when planting and births of animals occurred. The bull was a symbol of strength and fertility in many of those cultures, and was prominent in the mythology of almost all early civilizations, like Egyptian myth of Apis, Greek one of the Minotaur (when Zeus disguised in a white bull with golden horns abducted Europa to Crete where she gave birth to that monster), and others involving Zeus in disguise. Even Celtic Druids were concerned. The Bull is also thought to charge Orion who is at its left. Might be too the brazen feet bull tamed by Jason in the story of the Argonauts. Some Arab names for the stars in Taurus refer to a bull's horns and the bull's eye. Many of the celestial objects in Taurus that are visible to the naked eye, on a other hand, were also given significance. Among them are the star clusters Hyades and Pleiades. The rising of the Hyades was associated with rain from ancient Greece to ancient China as the Pleiades were said to be visible in good weather, a sign that the ancient seamen could undertake a sea voyage. Pleiades were also associated with a myth about Orion, and a Polynesian myth. M1 (Crab Nebula; the Crab Nebula, or M1, or NGC 1952) is the first item on Charles Messier's list. Messier was an 18th century comet hunter who compiled a list of nuisances which could have been confused with comets. Nearly a century later British astronomer William Parsons sketched the nebula as its resemblance to a crustacean led to M1's other name, the Crab Nebula. The Crab Nebula is a remnant of a powerful supernova which occurred on on July 4, 1054 as it could be observed in the East and the Far East and by Native Americans in the US' Southwest. The glow remained visible to the naked eye in the daytime for weeks, and at night for two years! Chinese could see 'two Suns in the sky' as that second point kept shining during 23 days in a crystal clear blue sky. In 1928 astronomer Edwin Hubble first proposed associating the Crab Nebula to the Chinese 'guest star' of 1054. Dust in the nebula holds argon hydride, a molecular ion containing the noble gas argon, the first detection of a noble-gas based compound in space. With a small telescope it is seen like a very pale dot at some more than one degree northwest from z Tau), M45 (open cluster; the Pleiades; a nursery of large, young stars still shrouded into their original cloud -which is seen only through astrophotograpy; 'Pleiades' mean 'doves' in Greek), NGC 1514 (planetary nebula), NGC 1807/1817 (open clusters), the Hyades (open cluster, at 130 light-years from the Earth; Aldebaran is a foreground star)

Telescopium, the Telescope

Constellation devised by Lacaille. The closest stellar-mass black hole to Earth lies at 1,000 light-years in the naked-eye visible stellar HR 6819 system (5.3th mag.)

Triangulum, the Triangle

132° Known since Antiquity. One of the Ptolemy 48 constellations. Maybe Sicily figured in the sky at its inhabitants demand by Jupiter. The first asteroid was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi on January, 1st 1801 in that constellation. M33 (NGC 598, the Triangulum Galaxy. It was probably first documented by the Sicilian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna about 1660 and again observed by Messier in 1764. M33 is located about three million light-years from us; clear skied may allow the galaxy to be visible with the unaided eye thus the most distant celestial object visible without any optical help. M33, at the 5.7th magnitude however is a very weak object telescopically due to its large surface and is guessed only (?) with a 60mm refractor at a power of 35x. Dark skies without Moon are best)

Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle

110° Maybe reported by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503 and "found again" by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597. Again devised by Bayer in 1603

Tucana, the Toucan

R.A. 24h, Decl. -65°. 295°. Southern hemisphere, polar region. Tucana is named for the Toucan, a brightly colored South American bird with a very large, thick bill. The shape of the constellation looks like the bird's bill. Tucana was discovered by Dutch navigators Keyser and Houtman and taken back by German astronomer Johannes Bayer. Modern discoverers of the southern skies named several other southern constellations for exotic animals. Home to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC; astronomers originally thought that both Magellanic clouds were orbiting our Milky Way galaxy but recent research suggest that they might be moving too fast to be bound by the Milky Way's gravity and are passing by for the first time. Brightest regions of the SMC are easily visible to the naked eye as that satellite-galaxy is made up of a central bar of star formation and of a more extended wing

Ursa Major, the Great Bear

1280° For the Greeks, the stars there there outlined the shape of a bear walking about on its clawed feet. It and its smaller companion, Ursa Minor were said to be the prey of Boötes and his hunting dogs. A story in Latin poet Ovid has that Zeus fell in love with Callisto, which Hera, Zeus' wife, turned into a bear out of jealousy. Her son Arcus (the alternate name for the constellation Boötes) met her by chance in the forest and she ran to greet him. Not knowing the bear was his mother, he was about to kill her, but Zeus turned Arcus into a smaller bear, grabbed them both by their tails and flung them into the sky, causing their tails to be stretched (the long cat-like tail on the bears was part of the ancient pattern and is somewhat of a mystery). A number of Native American tribes, on a other hand, also referred to this constellation as a bear, as the tail were three hopeful hunters, and the middle one is carrying a cooking pot for cooking up the bear. The asterism outlining the Big Dipper refers, according to many different cultures to a long handled spoon, often used for dipping water for drinking. Others call this pattern a old-style, ox-pulled farm plow. The plow pattern, pulled by oxen, is the shape referenced in the myth of the Triones, the oxen and plow driven by Bootes the herder. Egyptians and Chinese saw different associations. Even early European civilizations continued to invent new meanings for this pattern. The best known of constellations among a vast public. check too at Herdsman. Another, rare characteristic of the Great Bear is that its stars formed from a same gas and dust cloud 500 million years ago and are thus really related together! The Mizar-Alcor field (the Mizar star, which lies by the middle of the Big Dipper's handle, sided with the Alcor star; that field is very fine at a low magnification of about 45x as Mizar already is resolved into a binary), M40 (a double star), M81 (galaxy; M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky, with the 6.9th magnitude and 12 millions light-years from us; both M81, with M82, are seen with binoculars with a dark, clear night; their set of both is named the Bode's nebulae, as M81 proper is termed the Bode's galaxy. M81 is a frequent target for both amateur and professional astronomers), M82 (galaxy; the Messier 81 group of galaxies is a gathering of bright galaxies including its namesake Messier 81, and the well-known Messier 82. This group is famous for its unusual members, many of which formed from collisions between galaxies), M97 (the Owl Nebula), M101 (galaxy; it is the famed Pinwheel Galaxy, at the 7.9th magnitude; the Messier 101 Group and our own Local Groupe are part of the Virgo Supercluster. M101 is a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way, but about 70% bigger. It is located about 21 million light years from Earth. It featured 3 supernovae since 1909), M102, M108 (galaxy), M109 (galaxy), NGC 2841 (galaxy), NGC 3079 (galaxy), NGC 3631 (galaxy), NGC 4036, a lenticular galaxy some 70 million light-years away, which can be seen using an amateur telescope, making it a favorite amongst backyard astronomers and astrophotography aficionados. Region of galaxies

Ursa Minor, the Little Bear

256° see at Great Bear. Was seen as a constellation only by 600 BC when separated from an old constellation (the Dragon's wing) and used as a navigational aide by sailors. Contains Polaris, the North Star, which is a double star, with a companion orbiting around in about 26 years

Vela, the Ship's Sails

R.A. 09h, Decl. -50°. 500°. Mostly southern hemisphere. Vela, the Sails, was originally part of Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and his Argonauts. Due to the extension of the original constellation of the Ship as large as 75 degrees (about a quarter of the sky) hence far too large for new observational purposes, it was thus deconstructed into the Keel (Carina), the Stern (Puppis) and the Sails (Vela) by the 18th century A.D. by French astronomer abbot Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and that was confirmed by the drawing of the 88 constellations by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1930 check at Carina. NGC 3201, a globular cluster at the 8.2th magn. discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop as it features a retrograde orbital motion in our Milky Way Galaxy along with a stellar mass blackhole in it. Region of open clusters

Virgo, the Virgin

R.A. 13h, Declination 0°. 1294°. Northern and southern hemisphere, a zodiacal constellation. Stars of Virgo were associated with almost every major female deity in world-wide early civilizations. Most of the fertility and harvest goddesses of the Mediterranean and Middle East are in some way associated with Virgo but there is no one definitive myth that defines this pattern. At that time, Virgo rose by mid-August and, when the Zodiac was created by the Babylonians and the Greeks, it became a marker for summer's end and ripening of the harvest. The pattern is pictured as a female, often holding a spike of grain in one hand. Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky after Hydra, as the Sun spends a long time within its boundaries. Agricultural associations can be seen in the names of some of Virgo's main stars: Spica ('spike of grain') or Vindemiatrix ('wine gatherer'). Sometimes Virgo is holding a staff, a caduceus (the snake-entwined staff that symbolizes healing, rebirth, or oracle prophecy), or a scale in her other hand, as such symbols are associated with additional goddesses who symbolize justice, wisdom or prophecy. Many of the goddesses linked to Virgo are associated with stories in which a king or male god dies (symbolizing the coming of winter) and is reborn again in the spring, or in which the goddess enters the underworld to find him and cause his rebirth. In other variants, the goddess herself, representing the bountiful Earth, divides her time between the upper world and the underworld, returning above ground in the spring. Among the goddesses associated with Virgo are Babylonian Istar, Egyptian Isis, Sumerian Ishtar, Greek Demeter, Greek Demeter's daughter Persephone, Greek Dike, Athena, or Artemis, Roman Ceres or Dionysius's daughter Erigone, and many others. Virgo is also important in an ancient Chinese belief which is based on the passage of the Moon into the constellation, not the Sun. Home to the 'Virgo Cluster.' Most of following galaxies belong to that cluster as they mainly appear like faint spots. M49 (galaxy), M58 (galaxy), M59 (galaxy; member of the Virgo cluster), M60 (galaxy; at 50 million light-years, M60 contains a huge black hole at 4.5 billion solar masses, or more than 1,000 times bigger than the black hole in our Milky Way Galaxy), M61 (galaxy; or NGC 4303; it is a starburst galaxy, featuring a creation of large amounts of stars during a short time. It is comparable in size to our Milky Way Galaxy, as both belong to a group of galaxies known as the Virgo Supercluster in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin), a group of galaxy clusters containing up to 2,000 spiral and elliptical galaxies in total), M84 (galaxy), M86 (galaxy), M87 (galaxy), M89 (galaxy, member of the Virgo cluster), M90 (galaxy, member of the Virgo cluster), M104 (the Sombrero Galaxy; always low on the horizon from the northern hemisphere; a 200-mm telescope only allows to the dark bar). Region of galaxies

Volans, the Flying Fish

141° Constellation devised by Bayer in 1603 or by Keyser and Houtman about 1595-1597

Vulpecula, the Little Fox

278° Constellation devised by Hevelius along with the Goose; the Goose does not exist anymore. M27 (Dumbbell Nebula; one of the finest planetary nebula in the sky, at the 8th mag.), Cr 399 (open cluster, the Coathanger). Open clusters