Monoceros Constellation Map

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Caption: The constellation Monoceros with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Monoceros is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Gemini, Orion, Lepus, Canis Major, Puppis, Hydra and Canis Minor. Monoceros spans the celestial equator and thus parts of the constellation are visible everywhere on the Earth at some point in the year. The whole constellation is visible to all but the most arctic and antarctic regions. Monoceros is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere winter and southern hemisphere summer. The star-forming Rosette Nebula is marked here with a green square. The open cluster of young stars NGC 2244, which is associated with the Rosette Nebula, is marked with a yellow circle just below it. The other open clusters M50 and NGC 2506 are also marked here with yellow circles. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line at the top left of the diagram marks the ecliptic. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope
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Glossary Terms: Apparent Magnitude , Celestial Coordinates , Constellation , Declination , Right Ascension (RA)
Categories: Naked Eye Astronomy

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Serpens Cauda Constellation Map

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Caption: A map of part of the constellation Serpens. Serpens is unique amongst IAU constellations in that it is divided into two non-contiguous parts. The part of Serpens shown here is known as Serpens Cauda, representing the tail of the serpent. This part of Serpens is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Scutum and Aquila. Serpens Cauda spans the celestial equator thus parts of the constellation are visible at some point in the year across the Earth. The whole constellation is visible to all but the most arctic and antarctic regions. Serpens Cauda is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The Eagle Nebula and its associated star cluster are marked here as M16 with a yellow circle. This region was the location of the famous “pillars of creation” image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line at the bottom of the diagram marks the ecliptic. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars, nor the ecliptic, appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope
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Glossary Terms: Apparent Magnitude , Celestial Coordinates , Celestial Equator , Constellation , Declination , Nebula , Right Ascension (RA) , Open Cluster , Sagittarius
Categories: Naked Eye Astronomy

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Ophiuchus Constellation Map

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Caption: The constellation Ophiuchus along with its bright stars and its surrounding constellations. Ophiuchus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Hercules, Serpens Caput, Scorpius, Sagittarius and Serpens Cauda. Ophiuchus is not part of the traditional twelve zodiac constellations but it lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Ophiuchus from late November to mid December. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus spans the celestial equator and thus part of the constellation is visible across the whole of the earth at some point in the year. However during the time it is most visible in the evenings (the southern hemisphere winter and northern hemisphere summer) much of the arctic is in perpetual daylight making the stars in the constellation impossible to see. The whole constellation is visible from equatorial and temperate regions of both hemispheres. As Ophiuchus lies close to the galactic center it contains many globular clusters such as M9, M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, and M107. These are marked as yellow circles with plus symbols superimposed. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope
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Glossary Terms: Apparent Magnitude , Celestial Coordinates , Celestial Equator , Constellation , Declination , Ecliptic , Galactic Center , Globular Cluster , Right Ascension (RA) , Scorpius , Zodiac , Sagittarius
Categories: Naked Eye Astronomy

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Sagittarius Constellation Map

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Caption: The constellation Sagittarius along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Sagittarius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Aquila, Scutum, Serpens Cauda, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Corona Australis, Telescopium, Microscopium and Capricornus. The brighter stars in Sagittarius form a distinctive teapot shape. Sagittarius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Sagittarius from mid December to mid January. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Sagittarius. Sagittarius lies south of the celestial equator. The famous teapot asterism is visible for all but the most arctic regions of the world but the most southerly parts of the constellation are not visible in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Sagittarius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* which lies at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is sits on the western (here right-hand) edge of Sagittarius. Due to it covering an area at the center of our Galaxy, Sagittarius is home to many star clusters including open clusters (marked here with yellow circles) and globular clusters (marked here with yellow circles with + signs superimposed on them). Three nebulae are also marked here with green squares. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope
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Glossary Terms: Apparent Magnitude , Capricornus , Celestial Coordinates , Constellation , Declination , Ecliptic , Globular Cluster , Milky Way , Nebula , Right Ascension (RA) , Sagittarius A* , Scorpius , Supermassive Black Hole , Zodiac , Asterism , Open Cluster , Sagittarius
Categories: Naked Eye Astronomy

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Centaurus Constellation Map

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Caption: The constellation Centaurus with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Centaurus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Hydra, Antlia, Vela, Carina, Musca, Crux, Circinus, Lupus and Libra. Centaurus is a large constellation most notable for its brightest star Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is a triple star system and is the nearest star system to the Solar System. When viewed with the naked eye, the two brightest components of Alpha Centauri appear as one star. The combined light from these two stars makes Alpha Centauri appear as the third brightest star in the night sky. The third component of the Alpha Centauri system Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, is too faint to be viewed with the naked eye. Centaurus is a southern constellation and thus the whole constellation is visible from the southern hemisphere at some point in the year. The whole constellation is also visible from equatorial regions of the northern hemisphere with parts of the constellation visible from temperate northern regions. The constellation is best viewed in the evening in the late northern hemisphere spring and late southern hemisphere autumn. The globular cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC 5319, lies in Centaurus. Bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, this cluster was initially given a designation as a star in the constellation before its true nature was realised. It is marked here with a yellow circle with a plus sign superimposed on it. As is the globular cluster NGC 5286. The open cluster NGC 3766 is marked here with a yellow circle. NGC 5128, also known as Centaurus A, is the closest active galaxy to Earth. The supermassive black hole at the heart of this galaxy has launched two huge jets of matter which emit in many different wavelengths including x-ray and radio emission. NGC 5128 is marked with a red ellipse here, as is the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4945. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line in the top left is the ecliptic. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope
Credit Link

Glossary Terms: Apparent Magnitude , Celestial Coordinates , Constellation , Declination , Globular Cluster , Right Ascension (RA) , Open Cluster , Alpha Centauri
Categories: Naked Eye Astronomy

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

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