Monoceros

Monoceros
Constellation

Abbreviation Mon
Genitive Monocerotis
Pronunciation /məˈnɒsɪrəs/,
genitive /ˌmɒnəsɪˈroʊtɪs/
Symbolism the Unicorn
Right ascension 7.15
Declination −5.74
Quadrant NQ2
Area 482 sq. deg. (35th)
Main stars 4
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars		 32
Stars with planets 16
Stars brighter than 3.00m 0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) 2
Brightest star β Mon (3.76m)
Messier objects 1
Meteor showers December Monocerids
Alpha Monocerids
Bordering
constellations		 Canis Major
Canis Minor
Gemini
Hydra
Lepus
Orion
Puppis
Visible at latitudes between +75° and −90°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of February.

Monoceros (Greek: Μονόκερως) is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its name is Greek for unicorn. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the south and Hydra to the east. Other bordering constellations include Canis Minor, Lepus and Puppis.

Features

The constellation Monoceros as it can be seen by the naked eye.

Stars

Monoceros is not easily seen with the naked eye, containing only a few fourth magnitude stars. Alpha Monocerotis has a visual magnitude of 3.93, slightly brighter than Gamma Monocerotis at 3.98.

Beta Monocerotis is a triple star system, the three stars forming a triangle which seems to be fixed. The visual magnitudes of the stars are 4.7, 5.2 and 6.1. William Herschel discovered it in 1781 and commented that it is "one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens".

Epsilon Monocerotis is a fixed binary, with visual magnitudes of 4.5 and 6.5.

S Monocerotis, or 15 Monocerotis, is a bluish white variable star and is located at the center of NGC 2264. The variation in its magnitude is slight (4.2–4.6). It has a companion star of visual magnitude 8.

V838 Monocerotis, a variable red supergiant star, had an outburst starting on January 6, 2002; in February of that year, its brightness increased by a factor of 10,000 in one day. After the outburst was over, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to observe a light echo, which illuminated the dust surrounding the star.[1]

Monoceros also contains Plaskett's Star, which is a massive binary system whose combined mass is estimated to be that of almost 100 Suns put together.

Planets

Monoceros contains two super-Earth exoplanets in one planetary system: COROT-7b was detected by the COROT satellite and COROT-7c was detected by HARPS from ground-based telescopes. Until the announcement of Kepler-10b in January 2011, COROT-7b was the smallest exoplanet to have its diameter measured, at 1.58 times that of the Earth (which would give it a volume 3.95 times Earth's). Both planets in this system were discovered in 2009.

Deep-sky objects

Monoceros contains many clusters and nebulae, most notable among them:

History

The constellation Monoceros, from Urania's Mirror, a set of star charts from 1825. Includes Canis Minor and the obsolete constellation Printer's Workshop

In Western astronomy, Monoceros is a relatively modern constellation. Its first certain appearance was on a globe created by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius in 1612 or 1613[7] and it was later charted by German astronomer Jakob Bartsch as Unicornu on his star chart of 1624.[8]

German astronomers Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers and Ludwig Ideler[9] indicate (according to Richard Hinkley Allen's allegations) that the constellation may be older, quoting an astrological work[10] from 1564 that mentioned "the second horse between the Twins and the Crab has many stars, but not very bright"; these references may ultimately be due to the 13th century Scotsman Michael Scot, but refer to a horse and not a unicorn, and its position does not quite match. Joseph Scaliger is reported[11] to have found Monoceros on an ancient Persian sphere. French astronomer Camille Flammarion believed that a former constellation, Neper (the "Auger"), occupied the area of the sky now home to Monoceros and Microscopium, but this is disputed.[12]

Chinese asterisms Sze Fūh, the Four Great Canals; Kwan Kew; and Wae Choo, the Outer Kitchen, all lay within the boundaries of Monoceros.[12]

Citations

  1. ↑ Wilkins, Jamie; Dunn, Robert (2006). 300 Astronomical Objects: A Visual Reference to the Universe (1st ed.). Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1-55407-175-3.
  2. ↑ Levy 2005, p. 104.
  3. ↑ Levy 2005, pp. 82-83.
  4. ↑ Levy 2005, p. 83.
  5. ↑ Levy 2005, p. 85.
  6. ↑ Levy 2005, pp. 105-106.
  7. ↑ Le costellazioni di Petrus Plancius on atlascoelestis.com
  8. ↑ Ridpath, Ian. "Jacob Bartsch and seven new constellations".
  9. ↑ Ideler, Ludwig (1809). Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen: Ein Beytrag zur Geschichte des gestirnten Himmels. Berlin. pp. 354..355. freely available Xdo3AAAAMAAJ&pg= PA1&dq= Untersuchungen+uber+den+ursprung+und+die+bedeutung+der+sternnamen.&ei= iEWFSrecCoGWyQTr9s2lDg#v= onepage&q= &f= false HERE
  10. ↑ Himmels Lauffs Wirkung und natürliche Influenz der Planeten Gestirne und Zeichen aufs Grund der Astronomie. Frankfurt. 1564.
  11. ↑ Allen, Richard Hinckley (1899). Star Names – Their lore and meaning]]. Dover. p. 290.
  12. 1 2 Allen, p. 290.

References

Coordinates: 07h 09m 00s, −05° 44′ 24″

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