A.12 The Constellations

The Constellations
Constellation (Latin name) Genitive Case Ending English Name or Description Abbreviation Approximate Position: α (h) Approximate Position: δ (°)
Andromeda Andromedae Princess of Ethiopia And 1 +40
Antila Antilae Air pump Ant 10 −35
Apus Apodis Bird of Paradise Aps 16 −75
Aquarius Aquarii Water bearer Aqr 23 −15
Aquila Aquilae Eagle Aql 20 +5
Ara Arae Altar Ara 17 −55
Aries Arietis Ram Ari 3 +20
Auriga Aurigae Charioteer Aur 6 +40
Boötes Boötis Herdsman Boo 15 +30
Caelum Cael Graving tool Cae 5 −40
Camelopardus Camelopardis Giraffe Cam 6 +70
Cancer Cancri Crab Cnc 9 +20
Canes Venatici Canum Venaticorum Hunting dogs CVn 13 +40
Canis Major Canis Majoris Big dog CMa 7 −20
Canis Minor Canis Minoris Little dog CMi 8 +5
Capricornus Capricorni Sea goat Cap 21 −20
Carina1 Carinae Keel of Argonauts’ ship Car 9 −60
Cassiopeia Cassiopeiae Queen of Ethiopia Cas 1 +60
Centaurus Centauri Centaur Cen 13 −50
Cepheus Cephei King of Ethiopia Cep 22 +70
Cetus Ceti Sea monster (whale) Cet 2 −10
Chamaeleon Chamaeleontis Chameleon Cha 11 −80
Circinus Circini Compasses Cir 15 −60
Columba Columbae Dove Col 6 −35
Coma Berenices Comae Berenices Berenice’s hair Com 13 +20
Corona Australis Coronae Australis Southern crown CrA 19 −40
Corona Borealis Coronae Borealis Northern crown CrB 16 +30
Corvus Corvi Crow Crv 12 −20
Crater Crateris Cup Crt 11 −15
Crux Crucis Cross (southern) Cru 12 −60
Cygnus Cygni Swan Cyg 21 +40
Delphinus Delphini Porpoise Del 21 +10
Dorado Doradus Swordfish Dor 5 −65
Draco Draconis Dragon Dra 17 +65
Equuleus Equulei Little horse Equ 21 +10
Eridanus Eridani River Eri 3 −20
Fornax Fornacis Furnace For 3 −30
Gemini Geminorum Twins Gem 7 +20
Grus Gruis Crane Gru 22 −45
Hercules Herculis Hercules, son of Zeus Her 17 +30
Horologium Horologii Clock Hor 3 −60
Hydra Hydrae Sea serpent Hya 10 −20
Hydrus Hydri Water snake Hyi 2 −75
Indus Indi Indian Ind 21 −55
Lacerta Lacertae Lizard Lac 22 +45
Leo Leonis Lion Leo 11 +15
Leo Minor Leonis Minoris Little lion LMi 10 +35
Lepus Leporis Hare Lep 6 −20
Libra Librae Balance Lib 15 −15
Lupus Lupi Wolf Lup 15 −45
Lynx Lyncis Lynx Lyn 8 +45
Lyra Lyrae Lyre or harp Lyr 19 +40
Mensa Mensae Table Mountain Men 5 −80
Microscopium Microscopii Microscope Mic 21 −35
Monoceros Monocerotis Unicorn Mon 7 −5
Musca Muscae Fly Mus 12 −70
Norma Normae Carpenter’s level Nor 16 −50
Octans Octantis Octant Oct 22 −85
Ophiuchus Ophiuchi Holder of serpent Oph 17 0
Orion Orionis Orion, the hunter Ori 5 +5
Pavo Pavonis Peacock Pav 20 −65
Pegasus Pegasi Pegasus, the winged horse Peg 22 +20
Perseus Persei Perseus, hero who saved Andromeda Per 3 +45
Phoenix Phoenicis Phoenix Phe 1 −50
Pictor Pictoris Easel Pic 6 −55
Pisces Piscium Fishes Psc 1 +15
Piscis Austrinus Piscis Austrini Southern fish PsA 22 −30
Puppis2 Puppis Stern of the Argonauts’ ship Pup 8 −40
Pyxis3 (=Malus) Pyxidus Compass of the Argonauts’ ship Pyx 9 −30
Reticulum Reticuli Net Ret 4 −60
Sagitta Sagittae Arrow Sge 20 +10
Sagittarius Sagittarii Archer Sgr 19 −25
Scorpius Scorpii Scorpion Sco 17 −40
Sculptor Sculptoris Sculptor’s tools Scl 0 −30
Scutum Scuti Shield Sct 19 −10
Serpens Serpentis Serpent Ser 17 0
Sextans Sextantis Sextant Sex 10 0
Taurus Tauri Bull Tau 4 +15
Telescopium Telescopii Telescope Tel 19 −50
Triangulum Trianguli Triangle Tri 2 +30
Triangulum Australe Trianguli Australis Southern triangle TrA 16 −65
Tucana Tucanae Toucan Tuc 0 −65
Ursa Major Ursae Majoris Big bear UMa 11 +50
Ursa Minor Ursae Minoris Little bear UMi 15 +70
Vela4 Velorum Sail of the Argonauts’ ship Vel 9 −50
Virgo Virginis Virgin Vir 13 0
Volans Volantis Flying fish Vol 8 −70
Vulpecula Vulpeculae Fox Vul 20 +25

Footnotes

  1. 1 The four constellations Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela originally formed the single constellation Argo Navis.
  2. 2 The four constellations Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela originally formed the single constellation Argo Navis.
  3. 3 The four constellations Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela originally formed the single constellation Argo Navis.
  4. 4 The four constellations Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela originally formed the single constellation Argo Navis.

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Douglas College Astronomy 1105 Copyright © 2017 by Douglas College Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open Stax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.