Scl - Sculptor the Sculptor's Workshop
Intro and Visual description
Located south of the flukes of Cetus the Whale. Trace to it by following a line southward from Alpheratz (the corner of Pegasus and Andromeda) through gamma-Pegasi, across Pisces and Cetus. This line will run through Beta-Ceti (Diphda) just before reaching the faint stars of Sculptor (alpha-Sculptoris is only magnitude 4.3). Look for it from northern latitudes barely visible low in the south during September and October.
Special Stars
NGC 253 (C65), an edge-on spiral galaxy just south of Beta-Ceti (Diphda). This magnificent telescopic object, discovered by Caroline Herschel, is visible with binoculars as well. At a distance of only 8,000,000 LY, it lies not far beyond the Local Group.
Origin and History
Created by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, as one of 14 constellations in the far southern sky named after scientific instruments. Originally named Apparatus Sculptoris, the Sculptor’s Tools.
