revolution period is 40 years. The only other brightish star
in Canis Major is ‚, which makes a pretty little group with
the much fainter Â, Ëand Á.
Monocerosis not an original constellation; it was created
by Hevelius in 1690, and although it represents the fabled
unicorn there are no legends attached to it. Much of it is
contained in the large triangle bounded by Procyon,
Betelgeux and Saiph. There are no bright stars, but there
are some interesting doubles and nebular objects, and
the constellation is crossed by the Milky Way. ‚is a
fine triple; William Herschel, who discovered it in 1781,
called it ‘one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens’.
S Monocerotis is made up of a whole group of stars,
together with the Cone Nebula, which is elusive but not
too hard to photograph. The open cluster NGC2244, round
the star 12 Monocerotis (magnitude 5.8), is easy to find
with binoculars; surrounding it is the Rosette Nebula,
NGC2237, which is 2600 light-years away and over 50
light-years across. Photographs show the dark dust-lanes
and globules which give it such a distinctive appearance.
M50 is an unremarkable open cluster near the border
between Monoceros and Canis Major.
Lepus, the Hare, is placed here because it represents
an animal which Orion is said to have been particularlyfond of hunting. Of the two leaders, ·(Arneb) is an
F-type supergiant, 950 light-years away and 6800 times
as luminous as the Sun; ‚(Nihal) is of type G, 316 light-
years away and 600 Sun-power. Áis a wide, easy double.
R Leporis, nicknamed the Crimson Star, is a Mira variable
making a triangle with Î(4.36) and Ì; it can reach naked-
eye visibility, and can be followed with binoculars for
parts of its cycle. It is cool by stellar standards – hence its
strong red colour – but is 1000 light-years away, and at
least 500 times more powerful than the Sun.
M79, discovered by Méchain in 1780, is a globular
cluster at a distance of 43,000 light years; it lies in line
with ·and ‚. It is not too easy to find with binoculars, but
a small telescope will show it clearly.
Columba(originally Columba Noae, Noah’s Dove) con-
tains little of immediate interest, but the line of stars south
of Orion, of which ·and ‚are the brightest members,
makes it easy to identify. Ì, magnitude 5.16, is one of
three stars which seem to have been ‘shot out’ of the
Orion nebulosity, and are now racing away from it in
different directions; the other two are 53 Arietis and AE
Aurigae. ÌColumbae is of spectral type O9.5, so that it is
certainly very young; it has the high proper motion of
0.025 of a second of arc per year.STAR MAP 16
Monoceros, Lepus, Columba
BRIGHTEST STARS
Star R.A. Dec. Mag. Spectrum Proper name
hm s ° ‘ “
19 ‚ 05 14 32 08 12 06 0.12 B8 Rigel
58 · 05 55 10 07 24 26 0.1–0.9 M2 Betelgeux
24 Á 05 25 08 06 20 59 1.64 B2 Bellatrix
46 Â 05 36 13 01 12 07 1.70 B0 Alnilam
50 ̇ 05 50 45 01 56 34 1.77 O9.5 Alnitak
53 Î 05 47 45 09 40 11 2.06 B0 Saiph
VARIABLES
Star R.A. Dec. Range Type Period Spectrum
hm °‘(mags) (d)
U0 5 55.8 20 10 4.8–12.6 Mira 372 M
W0 5 05.4 01 11 5.9–7.7 Semi-reg 12 N
DOUBLES
Star R.A. Dec. P.A. Sep. Mags
hm °‘ ° ”
Ï 05 36.1 09 56 043 4.4 3.6,5.5
È 05 35.4 05 55 141 11.3 2.8,6.9
‚ 05 14.5 08 12 202 9.5 0.1,6.8
CLUSTERS AND NEBULAE
M NGC R.A. Dec. Mag. Dimensions Type
hm ° ‘ ‘
M42 1976 05 35.4 05 27 5 66 60 Great Nebula
M43 1982 05 35.6 05 16 7 20 15 Extension of M42
M78 2068 05 46.7 00 03 8 8 8 NebulaBRIGHTEST STARS
Star R.A. Dec. Mag. Spectrum Proper name
hm s ° ‘ “
9 · 06 45 09 16 42 58 1.46 A1 Sirius
21 Â 06 58 38 28 58 20 1.50 B2 Adhara
25 ‰ 07 08 23 26 23 36 1.86 F8 Wezea
2 Ë 07 24 06 29 18 11 2.44 B5 Aludra
VARIABLES
Star R.A. Dec. Range Type Period Spectrum
hm °‘(mags) (d)
UW 07 18.4 24 34 4.0–5.3 ‚Lyrae 4.39 07
DOUBLE
Star R.A. Dec. P.A. Sep. Mags
hm ° ‘ ° “
· 06 45.1 16 43 005 4.5 1.5, 8.5
CLUSTERS AND NEBULAE
M NGC R.A. Dec. Mag. Dimensions Type
hm ° ‘ ‘
M41 2287 06 47.0 20 44 4.5 38 Open cluster
2362 07 17.8 24 57 4 8 Open clusterORIONCANIS MAJORBRIGHTEST STARS
Star R.A. Dec. Mag. Spectrum Proper name
hm s ° ‘ “
10 · 07 39 18 05 13 30 0.38 F5 Procyon
3 ‚ 07 27 09 08 17 21 2.90 B8 GomeisaThe brightest star is ‚: R.A. 06h 28m 49s, dec. 07° 01’ 58”, mag. 3.7.
DOUBLE
Star R.A. Dec. P.A. Sep. Mags
hm °‘ ° “
 06 23.8 04 36 027 13.4 4.5, 6.5
S (15) 06 41.0 09 54 AB 213 2.8 4.7v, 7.5
CLUSTERS AND NEBULAE
M NGC R.A. Dec. Mag. Dimensions Type
hm ° ‘ ‘
50 2323 07 03.2 08 20 5.9 16 Open cluster
2237 06 32.3 05 03 ~6 80 60 Nebula
2244 06 32.4 04 52 5 24 Open clusterBRIGHTEST STARS
Star R.A. Dec. Mag. Spectrum Proper name
hm s ° ‘ “
11 · 05 32 44 17 49 20 2.58 F0 Arneb
9 ‚ 05 28 15 20 45 35 2.84 G2 Nihal
2 Ì 05 12 56 16 12 20 3.31 B9
VARIABLES
Star R.A. Dec. Range Type Period Spectrum
hm °‘ (mags) (d)
RX 05 11.4 11 51 5.0–7.0 Irregular – M
DOUBLES
Star R.A. Dec. P.A. Sep. Mags
hm °‘ ° “
Î 05 13.2 12 56 358 2.6 4.5,7.4
‚ 05 28.2 20 46 330 2.5 2.8,7.3
Á 05 44.5 22 27 350 96.3 3.7,6.3
CLUSTERS AND NEBULAE
M NGC R.A. Dec. Mag. Dimensions Type
hm s ° ‘
M79 1904 05 24 30 24 33 9.9 8.7 Globular
clusterBRIGHTEST STARS
Star R.A. Dec. Mag. Spectrum Proper name
hm s ° ‘ “
· 05 39 39 34 04 27 2.64 B8 Phakt
‚ 05 50 57 35 46 06 3.12 K2 Wazn
Also above magnitude 4.3: ‰(3.85), Â(3.87), Ë(3.96).COLUMBACANIS MINORMONOCEROSLEPUSGb Atl of Univ Phil'03stp 2/4/03 7:42 pm Page 249