Monday October 28, 2024

The Dolphin Swims the Southern Sky (all night)

During mid-evening in late October, the small constellation of Delphinus is positioned high in the southern sky. Look for its five 4th magnitude stars shining just to the lower left (or celestial southeast) of the line connecting the very bright stars Deneb and Altair. According to Greek legend, Poseidon, god of the seas, was assisted in a matter of the heart by a friendly dolphin, so he rewarded it with a place of honor in the heavens. Delphinus' brightest two stars are bluish Sualocin, at the top of its head, and whitish Rotanev, at the nape of its neck. Those funny appellations are actually the name of 19th century astronomer Nicolaus Venator spelled backwards. Gamma Delphinus, the star marking the dolphin's nose, is a close-together double star with one component a greenish colour. Despite swimming close to the Milky Way, Delphinus' only prominent deep sky objects are two globular clusters
designated NGC 7006 and NGC 6934, which are also numbers C42 and C47, respectively on Sir Patrick Moore's Caldwell List.


(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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* Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (21:2/156)