Circinus the Drawing Compass is a dim constellation of the Southern Hemisphere. Its greatest declare to fame is perhaps that it’s situated subsequent to Alpha Centauri, the third brightest star in our sky and closest star system to Earth. Each Circinus and Alpha Centauri lie close to the south celestial pole. And so, from the Southern Hemisphere, Circinus by no means units. It’s seen all through the night time, and all year long, within the southern sky.
Circinus is without doubt one of the 14 constellations that Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille named within the 18th century. He named it after a drafting software, the drawing compass.
Learn how to discover Circinus
Circinus could also be dim, with just one star above magnitude 4, however the presence of Alpha Centauri throughout the border makes it simple to search out. Clearly Alpha Centauri, at magnitude -0.27, is straightforward to search out because the third brightest star within the sky. It’s thus far south that to even get a glimpse of it from the Northern Hemisphere, it’s important to be south of 29 degrees north latitude. After all, within the Southern Hemisphere, you simply need to search for.
On the other facet of Circinus from Alpha Centauri is Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle. Certainly, Triangulum Australe does resemble a triangle, with its brightest nook star farthest from Circinus.
Stars and star clusters within the Drawing Compass
Circinus’s brightest star, Alpha Circini, is magnitude 3.19 and lies 53 light-years away. And its second brightest star, Beta Circini, lies 7 1/2 degrees from Alpha and shines at magnitude 4.07. It’s 97 light-years from Earth.
Circinus’s finest open cluster is NGC 5823. This cluster is magnitude 7.9. Additionally, about 3 1/2 levels away is one other cluster for telescope observers, NGC 5715, at magnitude 10.
Circinus lies alongside the Milky Way, which makes it a wealthy searching floor for merely scanning with a telescope and seeing what pops up.
Backside line: Circinus the Drawing Compass is a dim constellation situated subsequent to the third brightest star within the sky, Alpha Centauri.
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