• Hya - Hydra the Water Snake

    IAU Constellation
    Hya - Hydra the Water Snake

    Size

    1 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Equatorial

    Intro and Visual description

    Hydra the Water Snake is the largest and longest of the constellations, stretching from Cancer to Libra. Several constellations and asterisms ride on its back; from head to tail they are Sextans the Sextant, Crater the Cup, Corvus the Crow, and Noctua the Owl.

  • M83 - Southern Pinwheel

    Object image

    M83 - Southern Pinwheel, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)

    Object image caption

    NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)

    Object image source

    'Southern Pinwheel' Galaxy M83
    Permission
    cc-by-sa

    M83, the "Pinwheel Galaxy," was first observed by Nicolas LaCaille in 1752. Located in the tail of Hydra, it is the southernmost object listed in Messier's catalog published in 1781.

  • Fusion Image 1

    Source: John Flamsteed, Atlas coelestis (London, 1729); History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
    Object: M83 in Hydra; NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC
    Composite: The Sky Tonight, skytonight.org (CC-by)

    Object description

    M83, the “Southern Pinwheel Galaxy," was first observed by Nicolas LaCaille in 1752. Located in the tail of Hydra, it is the southernmost object listed in Messier's catalog published in 1781.

    Fusion Image 1
    Constellations IAU Abbr
    Hya

    Constellation description

    Hydra the Water Snake is included in the ancient star catalogs of Eudoxos of Knidos, Aratos of Soli, and Ptolemy.  It is the largest and longest of the constellations, stretching from Cancer to Libra.

    Source Description

    Flamsteed’s star atlas, the largest ever printed up to that time, featured 28 copperplate engravings and contained more than 3,000 stars (double the number of previous atlases). It became the most celebrated and influential star atlas of the 18th century. Isaac Newton relied on Flamsteed’s star coordinates, made available to him at an earlier date, for his theory of universal gravitation and explanation of the motion of the Moon.

    Flamsteed-1729

  • Noctua the Owl

    Asterism Visual Appearance

    Located between: Hydra, Turdus Solitarius.