Antlia is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name means "pump" in Latin and Greek; it represents an air pump. Originally Antlia Pneumatica, the constellation was established by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. Its non-specific (single-word) name, already in limited use, was preferred by John Herschel then welcomed by the astronomic community which officially accepted this. North of stars forming some of the sails of the ship Argo Navis, Antlia is completely visible from latitudes south of 49 degrees north.
Canis Minor is a small constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included as an asterism, or pattern, of two stars in Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and it is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for "lesser dog", in contrast to Canis Major, the "greater dog"; both figures are commonly represented as following the constellation of Orion the hunter.
Microscopium is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one of twelve created in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. The name is a Latinised form of the Greek word for microscope. Its stars are faint and hardly visible from most of the non-tropical Northern Hemisphere.
Octans is a faint constellation located in the deep Southern Sky. Its name is Latin for the eighth part of a circle, but it is named after the octant, a navigational instrument. Devised by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752, Octans remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation β Orionis, which is Latinized to Beta Orionis and abbreviated Beta Ori or β Ori. Rigel is the brightest and most massive component – and the eponym – of a star system of at least four stars that appear as a single blue-white point of light to the naked eye. This system is located at a distance of approximately 860 light-years (260 pc) from the Sun.
Sagitta is a dim but distinctive constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'arrow', not to be confused with the significantly larger constellation Sagittarius 'the archer'. It was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Although it dates to antiquity, Sagitta has no star brighter than 3rd magnitude and has the third-smallest area of any constellation.
Crater is a small constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. Its name is the latinization of the Greek krater, a type of cup used to water down wine. One of the 48 constellations listed by the second-century astronomer Ptolemy, it depicts a cup that has been associated with the god Apollo and is perched on the back of Hydra the water snake.
Horologium is a constellation of six stars faintly visible in the southern celestial hemisphere. It was first described by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1756 and visualized by him as a clock with a pendulum and a second hand. In 1922 the constellation was redefined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as a region of the celestial sphere containing Lacaille's stars, and has since been an IAU designated constellation. Horologium's associated region is wholly visible to observers south of 23°N.
Lambda1 Tucanae is the Bayer designation for one member of a pair of stars sharing a common proper motion through space, which lie within the southern constellation of Tucana. As of 2013, the pair had an angular separation of 20.0 arc seconds along a position angle of 82°. Together, they are barely visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 6.21. Based upon an annual parallax shift for both stars of approximately 16.5 mas as seen from Earth, this system is located roughly 198 light years from the Sun.
Nu Aquilae, Latinized from ν Aquilae, is the Bayer designation for a double star in the constellation of Aquila that lies close to the celestial equator. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.72 and so is visible to the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of only 0.8752 mas, it is believed to lie approximately 3,700 light-years from Earth. The variable star NU Aquilae has a similar-looking designation but is a separate and unrelated object.
Kappa Boötis is a double star in the constellation Boötes. It has the traditional name Asellus Tertius and the Flamsteed designation 17 Boötis. The components are separated by an angular distance of 13.5 arcsec, viewable in a small telescope. Kappa Boötis is approximately 155 light years from Earth.
HD 40979 is a triple star system in the northern constellation of Auriga. The combined brightness of this group lies below the typical limit of visibility to the naked eye at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.74. It is located at a distance of approximately 108 light years from the Sun based on parallax. The system is receding with a radial velocity of +32 km/s. It has a relatively high rate of proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the rate of 0.182″ per year.
HD 172044 is a triple star system in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has a blue-white hue and is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.41. The distance to the primary component is approximately 535 light years based on parallax. It is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −32.5 km/s, and is predicted to come as near as 77.3 light-years to the Sun some 4.5 million years from now.
Beta Fornacis is the Bayer designation for a solitary star in the southern constellation of Fornax. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.46. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 18.89 mas, it is located around 173 light years away from the Sun. At that distance, the visual magnitude is reduced by an interstellar extinction factor of 0.1.
HD 203857 is a double star in the constellation Cygnus. It is near the lower limit of visibility to the naked eye, having a combined apparent visual magnitude of 6.46. The distance to the primary component is approsimatly 1,230 light years based on parallax, and it has an absolute magnitude of −0.75. The star is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −6.3 km/s. It has a stellar classification of K5 and is known to be evolved. The star likely hosts an extrasolar planet, though yet unconfirmed.
HD 126614 is a trinary star system in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. The primary member, designated component A, is host to an exoplanetary companion. With an apparent visual magnitude of 8.81, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. The system is located at a distance of 239 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −33 km/s.
HD 24496 is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Taurus. The combined apparent visual magnitude of the pair is 6.81, which is too faint to be readily visible to the normal human eye. The system is located at a distance of 66.8 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +19 km/s. It is traversing the celestial sphere with a proper motion of 0.276″ per year.
HD 4732 is a red giant star of magnitude 5.9 located in the constellation Cetus. It is 189 light years from the Solar System.
π2 Gruis, Latinised as Pi2 Gruis, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Grus. It is faintly visible to the naked eye as a yellow-white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.622. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 25.1 mas as seen from the Earth, the system is located 130 light years from the Sun.
HD 34989 is a blue-white star in the main sequence, of apparent magnitude 5.80, in the constellation of Orion. It is 1700 light-years from the Solar System.
