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Oct - Octans the Octant

  • Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    IAU Constellation
    Aps - Apus the Bird of Paradise

    Size

    67 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern
  • Cha - Chamaeleon

    IAU Constellation
    Cha - Chamaeleon

    Size

    79 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • 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)
  • Oct - Octans the Octant

    IAU Constellation
    Oct - Octans the Octant

    Size

    50 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Circumpolar (southern)
    Southern

    Intro and Visual description

    Octans the Octant is devoid of bright stars, but three faint stars (not numbered by brightness) make a small triangle.

    The south celestial pole actually lies within Octans. No RA (visible anytime).  

    The nearest easy-to-spot star to the south pole is Beta-Hydri in Hydrus the Little Snake. No brighter star than Achernar (alpha-Eridani) is closer to the south celestial pole, which lies midway between Achernar (Eridanus) and Crux.

  • Pav - Pavo the Peacock

    IAU Constellation
    Pav - Pavo the Peacock

    Size

    44 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Tuc - Tucana the Toucan

    IAU Constellation
    Tuc - Tucana the Toucan

    Size

    48 of 88
    Astronomical Regions
    Southern
    Circumpolar (southern)
  • Bode (1801), plate 1: Octans

    Image

    Bode-1801-01-Octans
  • Bode (1801), Plate 1: Aries Planisphere

    Image

    Bode-1801-01-planisphere

    Uranographia Tab I. Stellatum Hemisphaeri um Arietis. 

    Bode included two planisphere plates. They are not southern and northern hemispheres; each one has Polaris at the top and the south pole at the bottom. Each one is centered upon an equinox point (where the ecliptic or path of the Sun and the celestial equator intersect). The March equinox point was in Aries in antiquity; by Bode’s time, due to the precession of the equinoxes, it had shifted to Pisces. The September equinox point was in Libra in antiquity; by Bode’s time it had shifted to Virgo.  Bode titled the plates as the Aries and Libra planispheres.

    The Aries planisphere, centered on the March equinox in Pisces, includes these constellations, among others, which appear high overhead in the night skies of autumn:

    Equatorial:  Orion, Taurus, Harpa Georgii, Cetus, Aries, Pisces, Pegasus, Aquarius, Aquila, Scutum.

    Northern:  Auriga, Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Draco, Honores Frederici, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra.

    Southern:  Eridanus, Apparatus Chemicus, Machina Electrica, Apparatus Sculptoris, Horologium, Toucan, Phoenix, Grus, Indus, Pavo, Tubus Astronomicus, Octans Nautica, Microscopium, Sagittarius, Globus Aerostatic.

    In March, the Aries-Pisces equinox (the center of the Aries planisphere) is traveling with the Sun, rising in the east in the mornings and setting in the west in the evenings. Imagine the center of the planisphere has the Sun pinned to it for that day, and that’s how it would move across the sky. Therefore the constellations near the center of this planisphere are invisible in the daytime sky at that time unless there is a solar eclipse. They would be visible directly opposite the Sun at the September equinox. 

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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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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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