Philips Atlas of the Universe

STAR MAPS

been unceremoniously cut up into its keel (Carina), poop

(Puppis) and sails (Vela), because the original constella-

tion was thought to be too unwieldy.

Ptolemy’s constellations did not cover the entire sky.

There were gaps between them, and inevitably these were

filled. Later astronomers added new constellations, some-

times modifying the original boundaries. Later still, the

stars of the far south had to be divided into constellations,

and some of the names have a very modern flavour. The

Telescope, the Microscope and the Air-pump are three of

the more recent groups. Even the Southern Cross, Crux

Australis, is a 17th-century constellation. It was formed by

Royer in 1679, and so has no great claim to antiquity.

Many additional constellations have been proposed

from time to time, but these have not been adopted,

although one of the rejected groups – Quadrans, the

Quadrant – is remembered in the name of the annual

Quadrantid meteor shower.

The 19th-century astronomer Sir John Herschel said

that the patterns of the constellations had been drawn up

to be as inconvenient as possible. In 1933, modified con-

stellation boundaries were laid down by the International

Astronomical Union. There have been occasional attempts

to revise the entire nomenclature, but it is unlikely any

radical change will now be made. The present-day constel-

lations have been accepted for too long to be altered.

Magnitudes: -1 0 1 2 3 45

Variable star Open Cluster

Globular Cluster Nebula Galaxy

h^12

h^13

14

h

15

h

16

h

17

h

18

h

19

h

20

h

(^21) h
(^22) h
23 h
0 h
1 h
2 h
3 h

4

h

5

h

h 6

h 7

h 8

h 9

h 10

h 11

ω

MENSA

OCTANS

CHAMAELEON

VOLANS

PICTOR RETICULUM

DORADO

CAELUM

APUS

AUSTRALETRIANGULUM

CIRCINUS

ARA

PAVO

INDUS

MICROSCOPIUM

TUCANA

HYDRUS

HOROLOGIUM

ERIDANUS

TAURUS

ERIDANUS

PHOENIX GRUS

CARINA

VELA

PUPPIS

MUSCA

CRUX

CENTAURUS

LUPUS

NORMA

LEO

SCORPIUS

LIBRA

HYDRA

HYDRA

CORVUS

CRATER

SEXTANS

ANTLIA

PYXIS

MONOCEROS

CANIS MINOR

CANCER

CANISMAJOR

CAPUTSERPENS

VIRGO

TELESCOPIUM AUSTRALISCORONA SAGITTARIUS

SCUTUM SERPENS

CAUDA

OPHIUCHUS

PEGASUS

EQUULEUS

AQUILA

CAPRICORNUS

AQUARIUS

PISCIS AUSTRINUS

ORION

LEPUS

COLUMBA

FORNAX

CETUS

SCULPTOR

PISCES

LIRPA

M

A

Y

J

U

N

E

J

U

L

Y

A U G U S T

SEP

TEM

BE

R

OCT

OBER

N

O

V

EM

B

ER

D

E

C

E

M

B

E

R

J

A

N

U

A

R

Y

F

BE

R

U

A

R

Y

AM

CR

H

ECLIPTIC

EQUATOR

47Tuc

Canopus

Achernar

Acrux

Mimosa

HadarKentRigil

M22

M7 M8

M6

M5

3532

3372

–90O

–80O

–70O

–60O

–50O

–40O

–30O

–20O

–10O

+10O

0 O

M42

M41

Regulus

Procyon

Sirius

Adhara

Spica

Antares

Fomalhaut Altair

Mira

Rigel

Betelgeuse

ECLIPTIC

EQUATOR

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