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Circumpolar (southern)

  • Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    IAU Constellation
    Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    Size

    67 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern
  • Car - Carina the Keel of Argo Navis

    IAU Constellation
    Car - Carina the Keel of Argo Navis

    Size

    34 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Locate Canopus by drawing a line from the easternmost star of Orion’s belt down through Rigel, Orion’s left foot. Canopus lies about twice as far from Orion’s belt as Sirius.

    Between Canopus and the south pole lies the Large Magellenic Cloud (LMC), located in the constellation Dorado the Swordfish.

    Between Canopus and Crux are the False Cross (nearer Canopus, shared by Carina and Vela) and the Diamond Cross (nearer Crux, in Carina). These are fainter than Crux and were once part of Argo Navis.

  • Cha - Chamaeleon

    IAU Constellation
    Cha - Chamaeleon

    Size

    79 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Cir - Circinus the Drafting Compasses (35)

    IAU Constellation
    Cir - Circinus the Drafting Compass

    Size

    85 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Cru - Crux the Southern Cross

    IAU Constellation
    Cru - Crux the Southern Cross

    Size

    88 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

    Intro and Visual description

    When looking for the Southern Cross, beware of two similar asterisms nearby, both of which point more toward the Large Magellenic Cloud (in the constellation Dorado) than toward the south celestial pole: 

    1. The Diamond Cross (in Carina).
    2. The False Cross (between Carina and Vela).

    The real Crux has two unmistakable marks, which will help you be sure you’ve found the real thing: 

  • Dor - Dorado the Swordfish

    IAU Constellation
    Dor - Dorado the Swordfish

    Size

    72 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

    Intro and Visual description

    Dorado the Swordfish is a small and obscure but very interesting constellation. It contains the Large Magellenic Cloud (LMC) and the only recent naked-eye supernova. In addition, the south ecliptic pole is located about where the "eye" of the fish would be. The Large and Small Magellenic Clouds are bright enough to be visible even in Moonlight.

  • Hyi - Hydrus the Southern Water Snake

    IAU Constellation
    Hyi - Hydrus the Southern Water Snake

    Size

    61 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

    Intro and Visual description

    Hydrus has only three stars above the fourth magnitude.Hydrus is the Little Snake, not to be confused with Hydra, the big one.

  • Ind - Indus the American Indian

    IAU Constellation
    Ind - Indus the American Indian

    Size

    49 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

    Intro and Visual description

    Very dim.

  • Men - Mensa the Mesa or Table Mountain

    IAU Constellation
    Men - Mensa the Mesa or Table Mountain

    Size

    75 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Mus - Musca the Fly

    IAU Constellation
    Mus - Musca the Fly

    Size

    77 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)

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IAU Constellation Main Page

Tau - Taurus the Bull

IAU Constellation
Tau - Taurus the Bull

Size

17 of 88
Astronomical Regions
Zodiac
Northern
Equatorial

Intro and Visual description

Taurus the Bull is easily spotted. Its head is the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster of stars. His horns point outward from the V. Aldebaran is the red eye of the Bull as he charges down upon us.

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| And | Ant | Aps | Aql | Aqr | Ara | Ari | Aur | Boo | Cae | Cam | Cap | Car | Cas | Cen | Cep | Cet | Cha | Cir | CMa | CMi | Cnc | Col | Com | CrA | CrB | Crt | Cru | Crv | CVn | Cyg | Del | Dor | Dra | Equ | Eri | For | Gem | Gru | Her | Hor | Hya | Hyi | Ind | Lac | Leo | Lep | Lib | LMi | Lup | Lyn | Lyr | Men | Mic | Mon | Mus | Nor | Oct | Oph | Ori | Pav | Peg | Per | Phe | Pic | PsA | Psc | Pup | Pyx | Ret | Scl | Sco | Sct | Ser | Sex | Sge | Sgr | Tau | Tel | TrA | Tri | Tuc | UMa | UMi | Vel | Vir | Vol | Vul |

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Kerry Magruder, Brent Purkaple, and Aja Tolman, editors, "The Sky Tonight: Cultural Archaeology of the Stars" (December 21, 2019 - ongoing), skytonight.org.


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