Sculptor (constellation)
No
- Whale
- Aquarius
- Southern fish
- Crane
- Phoenix
- Chemical oven
The sculptor (Latin Sculptor ) is a constellation of the southern sky.
Description
The sculptor is an inconspicuous constellation east of the bright star Fomalhaut in the constellation of the Southern Fish. None of his star is brighter than the fourth magnitude. Due to its location this constellation only in southern Central Europe ( Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany ) is completely visible.
The sculptor is the galactic south pole, through him is the " rotation axis " of our Milky Way.
In the constellation some interesting galaxies, including the Sculptor group, a group of galaxies located about 12 million light -years away.
History
The constellation was introduced in 1756 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille under the name l' Atelier de Sculptor ( " workshop of the sculptor "). Later it was the sculptor. He is represented as a table, with a bust -changing appearance. Shown this purpose, a mallet and a chisel that on some maps as Apparatus Sculptoris ( " tools of the sculptor ", such as Bode 1801) is performed and a further chisel ( Caela Sculptoris " chisel of the sculptor ", such as Samuel Leigh 1825). In addition Lacaille is a stone block on which the tool is located, but which is removed by Bode.
Stars
Double stars
κ1 Sculptoris is a double star system 100 light -years away. The two components belong to the spectral type F2. The system can be dissolved in a small telescope into two equally bright, the same color stars. The τ Sculptoris system is 120 light years away and consists of two stars of spectral types F1 and F7. The stars can also be separated with a smaller telescope.
Variable Stars
The brightest star in Sculptor, α Sculptoris, is a 673 light-years distant, bluish shining star of spectral type B7 III. It is a variable star of type SX Arietis.
Messier and NGC objects
The galaxies NGC 55, NGC 253 and NGC 247 in the Sculptor in the whale form a common group of galaxies in 8 million light years away.
NGC 55 is a galaxy in edge position, that is, we see them from the side. Already in prism binoculars it appears as a vast elongated nebula. In a telescope structures become visible.
NGC 253 is after the Andromeda Galaxy, the second brightest spiral galaxy in the sky. Also, this galaxy appears in edge position and can already be observed with binoculars. In a telescope it is a very interesting object.
NGC 288 is a 30,000 light-years distant globular clusters. To resolve it into individual stars you need a larger telescope.