Musca Borealis

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Constellation Musca in Johannes Hevelius' atlas (1690). In this atlas, constellations are shown as they would appear on a globe, i.e. back to front by comparison with their appearance in the sky. Johannes Hevelius - Prodromus Astronomia - Volume III "Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive uranographia" - Tavola AA - Triangulum Majus Minus et Musca.jpg
Constellation Musca in Johannes Hevelius' atlas (1690). In this atlas, constellations are shown as they would appear on a globe, i.e. back to front by comparison with their appearance in the sky.
In Urania's Mirror (1825). Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Aries and Musca Borealis.jpg
In Urania's Mirror (1825).

Musca Borealis (Latin for northern fly ) was a constellation, now discarded, located between the constellations of Aries and Perseus. [1] It was originally called Apes (plural of Apis, Latin for bee) by Petrus Plancius when he created it in 1612. It was made up of a small group of stars, now called 33 Arietis, 35 Arietis, 39 Arietis, and 41 Arietis, [2] in the north of the constellation of Aries.

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The brightest star is now known as 41 Arietis (Bharani). At magnitude 3.63, it is a blue-white main sequence star of spectral type B8V around 166 light-years distant. [3] 39 Arietis (Lilii Borea) is an orange giant star of magnitude 4.51 and spectral type K1.5III that is around 171 light-years distant. [4]

The constellation was renamed Vespa by Jakob Bartsch in 1624. The renaming by Bartsch may have been intended to avoid confusion with another constellation, created by Plancius in 1598, that was called Apis by Bayer in 1603. Plancius called this earlier constellation Muia (Greek for fly) in 1612, and it had been called Musca (Latin for fly) by Blaeu in 1602, although Bayer was evidently unaware of this. [5]

In 1679 Augustin Royer used these stars for his constellation Lilium (the Lily, representing the fleur-de-lis and in honour of his patron, King Louis XIV). [2]

It was first described as "Musca" by Hevelius in his catalogue of 1690. Subsequent astronomers renamed it into "Musca Borealis", to distinguish it from the southern fly, Musca Australis.

This constellation is no longer in use; the stars it contained are now included in Aries. The Southern Fly, Musca Australis, is now simply known as Musca.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aries (constellation)</span> Zodiac constellation in the northern hemisphere

Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for ram. Its old astronomical symbol is (♈︎). It is one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is a mid-sized constellation ranking 39th in overall size, with an area of 441 square degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corona Australis</span> Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere

Corona Australis is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its Latin name means "southern crown", and it is the southern counterpart of Corona Borealis, the northern crown. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. The Ancient Greeks saw Corona Australis as a wreath rather than a crown and associated it with Sagittarius or Centaurus. Other cultures have likened the pattern to a turtle, ostrich nest, a tent, or even a hut belonging to a rock hyrax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grus (constellation)</span> Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere

Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the crane, a type of bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Grus first appeared on a 35-centimetre-diameter (14-inch) celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius and was depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. French explorer and astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille gave Bayer designations to its stars in 1756, some of which had been previously considered part of the neighbouring constellation Piscis Austrinus. The constellations Grus, Pavo, Phoenix and Tucana are collectively known as the "Southern Birds".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangulum</span> Constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere

Triangulum is a small constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "triangle", derived from its three brightest stars, which form a long and narrow triangle. Known to the ancient Babylonians and Greeks, Triangulum was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. The celestial cartographers Johann Bayer and John Flamsteed catalogued the constellation's stars, giving six of them Bayer designations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucana</span> Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere

Tucana is a constellation of stars in the southern sky, named after the toucan, a South American bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived in the late sixteenth century by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Tucana first appeared on a 35-centimetre-diameter (14 in) celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius and was depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille gave its stars Bayer designations in 1756. The constellations Tucana, Grus, Phoenix and Pavo are collectively known as the "Southern Birds".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangulum Australe</span> Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere

Triangulum Australe is a small constellation in the far Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the southern triangle", which distinguishes it from Triangulum in the northern sky and is derived from the acute, almost equilateral pattern of its three brightest stars. It was first depicted on a celestial globe as Triangulus Antarcticus by Petrus Plancius in 1589, and later with more accuracy and its current name by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille charted and gave the brighter stars their Bayer designations in 1756.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix (constellation)</span> Minor constellation in the southern sky

Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky. Named after the mythical phoenix, it was first depicted on a celestial atlas by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille charted the brighter stars and gave their Bayer designations in 1756. The constellation stretches from roughly −39° to −57° declination, and from 23.5h to 2.5h of right ascension. The constellations Phoenix, Grus, Pavo and Tucana, are known as the Southern Birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andromeda (constellation)</span> Constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere

Andromeda is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy, and one of the 88 modern constellations. Located in the northern celestial hemisphere, it is named for Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia, in the Greek myth, who was chained to a rock to be eaten by the sea monster Cetus. Andromeda is most prominent during autumn evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, along with several other constellations named for characters in the Perseus myth. Because of its northern declination, Andromeda is visible only north of 40° south latitude; for observers farther south, it lies below the horizon. It is one of the largest constellations, with an area of 722 square degrees. This is over 1,400 times the size of the full moon, 55% of the size of the largest constellation, Hydra, and over 10 times the size of the smallest constellation, Crux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perseus (constellation)</span> Constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere

Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the Greek mythological hero Perseus. It is one of the 48 ancient constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and among the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is located near several other constellations named after ancient Greek legends surrounding Perseus, including Andromeda to the west and Cassiopeia to the north. Perseus is also bordered by Aries and Taurus to the south, Auriga to the east, Camelopardalis to the north, and Triangulum to the west. Some star atlases during the early 19th century also depicted Perseus holding the disembodied head of Medusa, whose asterism was named together as Perseus et Caput Medusae; however, this never came into popular usage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musca</span> Constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere

Musca is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It was one of 12 constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, and it first appeared on a celestial globe 35 cm (14 in) in diameter published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. The first depiction of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. It was also known as Apis for 200 years. Musca remains below the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere observers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41 Arietis</span> Binary star in the constellation Aries

41 Arietis is a triple star system in the northern constellation of Aries. With an apparent visual magnitude of 3.63, this system is readily visible to the naked eye. It has an annual parallax shift of 19.69 mas, which indicates it is at a distance of 166 light-years from the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mu Arietis</span> Star system in the constellation Aries

Mu Arietis, Latinized from μ Arietis, is the Bayer designation for a star system in the northern constellation of Aries. It is approximately 340 light-years distant from Earth, give or take a 30 light-year margin of error, and has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 5.74. According to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, this means it is faintly visible to the naked eye from dark suburban skies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39 Arietis</span> Star in the constellation Aries

39 Arietis, officially named Lilii Borea, is a star in the northern constellation of Aries. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.5. The distance to this star, as determined from an annual parallax shift of 19.01 mas, is approximately 172 light-years.

33 Arietis is a binary star in the northern constellation of Aries. 33 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. The combined apparent magnitude of 5.33 is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 14.09 mas, the distance to this system is approximately 231 light-years.

62 Arietis is a single star in the northern constellation of Aries, a few degrees to the north of Tau Arietis. 62 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, yellow-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.52. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 4.7±0.1 mas, it is approximately 690 light-years distant from the Earth.

59 Arietis is a star in the northern constellation of Aries. 59 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. It is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.91. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 15.40±0.06 mas, it is located approximately 212 light-years distant from the Sun. The star is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −4.7 km/s.

49 Arietis is a single star in the northern constellation of Aries. 49 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, white hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.90. The star is located at a distance of about 223 light-years distant from Earth based on parallax.

27 Arietis is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Aries. 27 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. It is a dim, yellow-hued star that is close to the lower limit of what can be viewed with the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude is 6.21. The annual parallax shift of 11.64±0.12 mas corresponds to a physical distance of approximately 280 light-years from Earth. It is advancing closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −122.7 km/s, and may come as close as 84 light-years in around 643,000 years.

11 Arietis is a star in the northern constellation of Aries. 11 Arietis is the Flamsteed designation. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.01, which makes it a challenging target to view with the naked eye in suitably dark skies. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 3.72 mas, the distance to this star is approximately 880 light-years.

<i>Uranias Mirror</i> Set of 32 astronomical star chart cards

Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824. They are illustrations based on Alexander Jamieson's A Celestial Atlas, but the addition of holes punched in them allow them to be held up to a light to see a depiction of the constellation's stars. They were engraved by Sidney Hall, and were said to be designed by "a lady", but have since been identified as the work of the Reverend Richard Rouse Bloxam, an assistant master at Rugby School.

References

  1. Nick Kanas (2012), Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Second ed.), Chichester, U.K., p. 121, ISBN   978-1-4614-0917-5 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 1 2 Ridpath.
  3. "* 41 Ari". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. "* 39 Ari". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  5. Kanas, p. 121.