Octans, Chamaeleon, and Volans - Downloadable article
The Octant, Chameleon, and Flying Fish hide their deep-sky possessions in the dark realms around the South Celestial Pole.
By
Tom Polakis —
Published:
March 3, 2009This downloadable article is from an Astronomy magazine 45-article series called "Celestial Portraits." The collection highlights all 88 constellations in the sky and explains how to observe each constellation's deep-sky targets. The articles feature star charts, stunning pictures, and constellation mythology. We've put together 11 digital packages. Each one contains four Celestial Portraits articles for you to purchase and download.
"Octans, Chamaeleon, and Volans" is one of four articles included in Celestial Portraits Package 11.
The constellations Octans, Chamaeleon, and Volans are the domain of observers in the Southern Hemisphere; if you live above 26° north latitude, they never clear your southern horizon, and if you live below 26° south latitude, they are circumpolar. Situated in a region between the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, the three small constellations are nearly devoid of spectacular telescopic objects. But if we probe deeper, we will find some worthy targets indeed.
Octans the Octant contains an ill-defined triangle of 4th-magnitude stars. Sigma (σ) Octantis is the best representation of a South Pole star. However, because the star glows dimly at 5th magnitude, you may find it easier to approximate the South Celestial Pole by forming an equilateral triangle with the two Magellanic Clouds. To read the complete article, purchase and download Celestial Portraits Package 11. |
Deep-sky objects in Octans, Chamaeleon, and Volans include
NGC 7098, Melotte 227, NGC 6920, NGC 7095, NGC 7637, NGC 6438, NGC 3195, Epsilon (ε) Chamaeleontis, IC 2631, Eta (η) Chamaeleontis Cluster, Gamma (γ) Volantis, NGC 2442, NGC 2434, NGC 2397, NGC 2348 |
Package 11 contains the following Celestial Portraits articles
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