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HomeThe Sky Tonight— images from historic star atlases, keyed to the modern constellations
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Southern

  • Ant - Antlia the Air Pump

    IAU Constellation
    Ant - Antlia the Air Pump

    Size

    62 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    IAU Constellation
    Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    Size

    67 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern
  • Aqr - Aquarius the Water Carrier

    IAU Constellation
    Aqr - Aquarius the Water Carrier

    Size

    10 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Southern
    Equatorial

    Intro and Visual description

    Water jar pattern near Pegasus.

  • Ara - Ara the Altar

    IAU Constellation
    Ara - Ara the Altar

    Size

    63 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
  • Cae - Caelum the Engraver's Chisel

    IAU Constellation
    Cae - Caelum the Engraver's Chisel

    Size

    81 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    A tiny, faint constellation, located south of Orion, barely visible from 35 degrees north latitude in December and January.

  • CMa - Canis Major the Big Dog

    IAU Constellation
    CMa - Canis Major the Big Dog

    Size

    43 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    South of Orion in the Winter Hexagon, near the horizon.

  • Cap - Capricornus the Sea Goat

    IAU Constellation
    Cap - Capricornus the Sea Goat

    Size

    40 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Zodiac
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Between Sagittarius and Aquarius. Dim stars; look for a laughing mouth.

  • 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.

  • Cen - Centaurus the Centaur

    IAU Constellation
    Cen - Centaurus the Centaur

    Size

    9 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Partially visible only in March and April from 35 degrees north latitude.

    Hadar, a knee of the Centaur, is on a line from Alpha Centauri to Crux.

  • Cet - Cetus the Sea Monster or Whale

    IAU Constellation
    Cet - Cetus the Sea Monster or Whale

    Size

    4 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Equatorial

    Intro and Visual description

    South of Aries and Pisces, one of the largest constellations. Trace to the second-magnitude star Beta-Ceti (Diphda, near the flukes) by following a line southward from Alpheratz (the corner of Pegasus and Andromeda) through gamma-Pegasi, across Pisces and Cetus.

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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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