Apus
- Southern triangle
- Circle
- Fly
- Chameleon
- Octant
- Peacock
- Altar
The bird of paradise, common name Apus ( from Latin ), is a constellation of the southern sky.
Description
The Bird of Paradise is an inconspicuous constellation near the south celestial pole. Only two of its stars are brighter than the fourth magnitude. The constellation is supposed to represent a tropical bird.
History
The Bird of Paradise is one of the constellations, which were introduced by the Dutch navigators Pieter Keyser and Frederick de Houtman Dirkszoon end of the 16th century. It is not known whether the sailors invented the constellation or assumed by the inhabitants of the South Seas. Johann Bayer took the constellation under the name Avis Indica ( Indian bird) on in his 1603 celestial atlas published Uranometria.
Celestial objects
Stars
The constellation contains due to its southern location no stars with Flamsteed identifier.
The brightest star in the bird of paradise is α Apodis, is a 410 light-years distant red giant five times the mass of our sun.
Double stars
Apodis δ is a binary star system in 663 light years away. The brighter component is a red giant of spectral type M5 III, which changes its brightness with no apparent periodicity. The second component is an orange shining star of spectral type K3 III. Due to the wide Winkalabstandes of 102.9 arc seconds, the system can already be resolved with binoculars into individual stars.
Variable Stars
ε Apodis is 551 light years distant variable star of type Gamma Cassiopeiae. It has slight fluctuations in brightness of 0.05 magnitudes.
θ Apodis is a semi- regular variable star of spectral type M. The brightness varies over a period of about 119 days from 5.5 to 6.6.