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.
NGC 6397 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ara. It is located about 7,800 light-years from Earth, making it one of the two nearest globular clusters to Earth. The cluster contains around 400,000 stars, and can be seen with the naked eye under good observing conditions.
Messier 23, also known as NGC 6494, is an open cluster of stars in the northwest of the southern constellation of Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. It can be found in good conditions with binoculars or a modestly sized telescope. It is in front of "an extensive gas and dust network", which there may be no inter-association. It is within 5° the sun's position so can be occulted by the moon.
Phi Aurigae, Latinized from φ Aurigae, is a giant star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.089. It lies 10′ from another faint naked-eye star HD 35520, between the three open clusters M36 and M38, and NGC 1893.
NGC 2547 is a southern open cluster in Vela, discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751 from South Africa. The star cluster is young with an age of 20-30 million years.
Phi Cassiopeiae is a star in the constellation Cassiopeia. φ Cassiopeiae is a multiple star with a combined apparent magnitude of +4.95. The two brightest components are A and C, sometimes called φ1 and φ2 Cas. φ Cas A is an F0 bright supergiant of magnitude 4.95 and φ Cas C is a 7.08 magnitude B6 supergiant at 134".
NGC 6530 is a young open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Sagittarius, located some 4,300 light years from the Sun. It exists within the H II region known as the Lagoon Nebula, or Messier 8, and spans an angular diameter of 14.0′. The nebulosity was first discovered by G. B. Hodierna prior to 1654, then re-discovered by J. Flamsteed circa 1680. It was P. Loys who classified it as a cluster in 1746, as he could only resolve stars. The following year, G. Le Gentil determined it was both a nebula and a cluster.
MY Cephei is a red supergiant located in open cluster NGC 7419 in the constellation of Cepheus. It is a semiregular variable star with a maximum brightness of magnitude 14.4 and a minimum of magnitude 15.5.
Kappa Crucis is a spectroscopic binary star in the open cluster NGC 4755, which is also known as the Kappa Crucis Cluster or Jewel Box Cluster.
4U 1700-37 is one of the stronger binary X-ray sources in the sky, and is classified as a high-mass X-ray binary. It was discovered by the Uhuru satellite. The "4U" designation refers to the fourth Uhuru catalog.
NGC 2506 is a mildly-elongated open cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Monoceros, located at a distance of 12.7 kly from the Sun near the Galactic anti-center. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1791. The cluster lies around 10,000 ly from the Galactic Center and about 1,600 ly above the Galactic plane. It is of intermediate age, estimated at around two billion years. The cluster has an angular radius of 12′ and a core radius of 4.8′.
TW Horologii is a carbon star and semiregular variable in the southern constellation of Horologium, near the eastern constellation border with Reticulum. It has a ruddy hue and, with an apparent visual magnitude that ranges from 5.52 down to 5.95, is visible to the naked eye and one of the brightest carbon stars. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 1,370 light years from the Sun. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +14 km/s. In the past this star has been considered a member of the open cluster NGC 1252, but this now seems unlikely.
NGC 1901 is an open cluster in the Dorado Constellation. It has a bright middle and is a little rich, with stars from 7th magnitude downwards. The celestial object was discovered on 30 December 1836 by the British astronomer John Herschel. The cluster is sparsely populated with GAIA data suggesting a membership of around 80 stars. It is considered unlikely it will survive its next pass through the Milky Way’s galactic plane in about 18 million years time.
NGC 5617 is an open cluster in the constellation Centaurus. NGC 5617 forms a binary open cluster with Trumpler 22. It lies one degree west-northwest of Alpha Centauri.
NGC 7419 is an open cluster in the constellation Cepheus. It is heavily reddened and notable for containing five red supergiants, the highest number known in any cluster until the end of the 20th century, but probably no blue supergiants.
The Gaia Sausage or Gaia Enceladus is the remains of a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way about 8–11 billion years ago. At least eight globular clusters were added to the Milky Way along with 50 billion solar masses of stars, gas and dark matter. It represents the last major merger of the Milky Way.
QX Andromedae is an eclipsing binary in the constellation Andromeda. It varies from a maximum apparent visual magnitude of 11.28 to a minimum of 11.50. Since it is impossible to specify the onset time of the eclipses, it is classified as a W Ursae Majoris variable star. It is also observed as an X-ray source and is a member of the open cluster NGC 752.
NGC 4179 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by William Herschel on January 14, 1784. It is a member of the NGC 4179 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.
