Sky & Deep Sky

28 Major Constellations

Named Stars

The Nick Strobel's Tutorial

Tables

25 Lesser Constellations

Southern Sky

Messier Tables

The Greek Alphabet


Lesser Constellations

Winter Spring Summer Autumn

spring lesser
1) CANES VENATICI

2) HYDRA

3) CORVUS

4) LIBRA

5) CRATER

6) LEO MINOR



CANES VENATICI - the Hunting Dogs - CVn

cvn Date & Time
Angular separation Cor Caroli - Chara = 5°
canes venatici
Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeGreekConst.
Cor Caroli2.913010.000 A0Alpha 2CVn
Chara4.2627.96.000 G0BetaCVn
M51 
The Whirlpool Galaxy - M 51 - NGC 5194
Spiral Galaxy - Magn.9.0 - Dist 25.1 mill. l.y.
The famous Whirlpool galaxy M51 was the first one where the spiral structure was discovered, in 1845 by Lord Rosse, who made a very careful and acurate painting. Therefore, M51 is sometimes referenced as Rosse's Galaxy or Lord Rosse's Question Mark. According to our present understanding, the pronounced spiral structure is a result of M51's current encounter with its neighbor, NGC 5195 (the fainter one in Messier's description). Due to this interaction, the gas in the galaxy was disturbed and compressed in some regions, resulting in the formation of new young stars. As is common in galactic encounters, spiral structure is preferably induced in the more massive galaxy.

m63 
The Sunflower Galaxy - M 63
NGC 5055 - Spiral Glaxy
Magn. 9.3 - Dist 23.5 mill. l.y.
Although 6 degrees south, it apparently forms a physical group with M51 and several smaller galaxies, the M51 group, which is about 24 million light years distant.
m94 
M 94 - NGC 4736 - Spiral Galaxy
Magn. 8.9 - Dist. 14 mill. l.y.
His bright circular disk is surrounded by a ring of active star-forming regions, traced by blue young star clusters in color images, which sharply separates it from a much less bright outer ring of an older yellowish stellar population. In the outskirts, this region however ends again in a ring with moderate star formation activity, so that M94 is one of the relatively rare galaxies in which two "waves" of stellar formation can be observed.
m3 
M 3 - NGC 5272 - Globular Cluster
Magn. 6.4 - Dist. 32.300 l.y.
M3 is one of the most outstanding globular clusters, containing an estimated half million stars! It is extremely rich in variable stars: 212 variables have been found, 186 periods determined, more than in every other globular cluster in our Milky Way galaxy (and thus the most ever observed); at least 170 RR Lyrae variables were discovered.
m106 
M 106 - NGC 4258 - Spiral Galaxy
Magn. 9.0 - Dist. 22.2 mill. l.y.
In 1995, investigations with the Very Large Baseline Array radio telescope equipment gave evidence that M106 is possibly the home of a massive dark objects, which could be traced to the lowest distance from the center ever possible up to now: 36 million solar masses apparently reside within a volume of about 1/24 to 1/12 light year radius (27,000 to 54,000 AU). This was then the densest matter concentration ever detected.



HYDRA - the Water Snake - Hya

hyaDate & Time
Angular separation Minchir - Pi Hya = 85°
hydra

Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeGreekConst.
Alphard1.981104.440 K3AlphaHya
Minchir4.44934.680 K1SigmaHya
Ukdah4.60456.480 F6Tau 1Hya

m 83M 83 - NGC 5236 - Spiral Galaxy
Magn. 8.2 - Dist. 22.5 millions l.y.
M 83 is magnificient in this image, has very well defined spiral arms and displays a very dynamic appearance, appealing by the red and blue knots tracing the arms. The red knots are apparently diffuse gaseous nebulae in which star formation is just taking place, and which are excited to shine by its very hot young stars. The blue regions represent young stellar populations which have formed shortly (i.e., some million or some dozens of million years ago). The dust lanes may be traced well into the central region to the nucleus which has only 20" diameter.
m 68M 68
NGC 4590
Globular Cluster
Magn. 8.2
Dist. 31.300 l.y.
m 48M 48
NGC 2548
Open Cluster
Magn. 5.8
Dist. 1.990 l.y.



CORVUS - the Crow - Crv

crvDate & Time
Angular separation Gienah Ghurab - Kraz = 7°
corvus
Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeGreekConst.
Gienah Ghurab2.5919012.400 B8GammaCrv
Kraz2.653105.500 G5BetaCrv
Algorab2.9515011.200 B9DeltaCrv
Minkar3.001804.560 K2EpsilonCrv
Alchiba4.02477.080 F2AlphaCrv



LIBRA - the Balance - Lib

libDate & Time
Angular separation Zuben Elschamali - Zuben Hakrabi = 16°
libra
Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeGreekConst.
Zuben Elschamali2.6110012.400 B8BetaLib
Zuben Elgenubi2.75659.040 A3AlphaLib
Zuben Hakrabi3.29513.040 M3SigmaLib
Zuben Elakrab3.91805.080 G8GammaLib
Zuben Elakribi4.9216311.200 B9DeltaLib



CRATER - the Cup - Crt

Date & Time
crt
Angular separation Alkes - Eta Crt = 13°
crater
Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeGreekConst.
Alkes4.081054.800 K0AlphaCrt



LEO MINOR - the Little Lion - LMi

lmi Date & Time
Angular separation Praecipua - 10 LMi = 16°
leo minor

Click on a star name for more informations        
NameMagn.Dist. (L.Y.)Temp.°KC.TypeFlamsteedConst.
Praecipua3.831364.800 K046LMi


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Constellation pictures are modified screen displaies of Voyager II™ version 2.0 for the Macintosh™, the Astronomy Program of Carina Software, 12919 Alcosta Blvd Suite #7, San Ramon, CA 94583

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