Constellation Musca (Fly)

Musca
Musca: IAU Constellation Map [150]

Properties

Musca is a small constellation with 138 square degrees in the band of the Milky Way. It connects to Crux to the south and shares with it a piece of the dark cloud Coal Sack. The center of the constellation culminates around midnight on March 31st. [9, 15]

Data for constellation Musca [150]
IAU NameMusca
IAU GenitiveMuscae
IAU Abbr.Mus
English NameFly
Opposition28 March
Season (47° N)
Right Ascension11h 19m 26s … 13h 51m 08s
Declination-75° 41' 02" … -64° 38' 17"
Area138 deg2
Neighbours (N↻)Cru, Cen, Car, Cha, Aps, Cir

Deep-Sky Object Descriptions

NGC 4372
NGC 4833
Dark Doodad
Sandqvist 149

Catalogues

Southern Constellations: Phoenix, Grus, Indus, Toucan, Hydrus, Pavo, Apus Indica, Triangulum Australe, Chameleon, Apis, Piscis Volans, Dorado
Southern Constellations: Phoenix, Grus, Indus, Toucan, Hydrus, Pavo, Apus Indica, Triangulum Australe, Chameleon, Apis, Piscis Volans, Dorado: Illustration from «Uranometria» by Johann Bayer, copper engraving by Alexander Mair, 1603 [28]

History

The constellation Musca goes back to Johann Bayer, who in 1603 separated a piece from the ancient constellation Centaurus and renamed it Apis (the Bee). Jakob Bartsch is said to have renamed the constellation Musca later. [7, 21]

References

  • [7] «Der grosse Kosmos-Himmelsführer» von Ian Ridpath und Wil Tirion; Kosmos Verlag; ISBN 3-440-05787-9
  • [9] «Drehbare Sternkarte SIRIUS» von H. Suter-Haug; Hallwag-Verlag, Bern
  • [15] «Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes» by David Malin and David J. Frew; Melbourne University Press 1995; ISBN 0-522-84553-3
  • [21] «Taschenatlas der Sternbilder» von Josef Klepesta und Antonin Rükl; Verlag Werner Dausien; ISBN 3-7684-2384-0
  • [28] «Uranometria omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata aereis laminis expressa» Johann Bayer, Augsburg, 1603; DOI:10.3931/e-rara-309
  • [150] IAU: The Constellations, 11. Oktober 2020; iau.org/public/themes/constellations