Columba (constellation)
| Constellation | |
 List of stars in Columba |
|
| Abbreviation | Col |
|---|---|
| Genitive | Columbae |
| Pronunciation | /kəˈlʌmbə/, genitive /kəˈlʌmbiː/ |
| Symbolism | the dove |
| Right ascension | 6 h |
| Declination | −35° |
| Quadrant | SQ1 |
| Area | 270 sq. deg. (54th) |
| Main stars | 5 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars |
18 |
| Stars with planets | 1 |
| Stars brighter than 3.00m | 1 |
| Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) | 0 |
| Brightest star | α Col (Phact) (2.65m) |
| Nearest star | Gliese 218 (48.89 ly, 14.99 pc) |
| Messier objects | 0 |
| Meteor showers | None |
| Bordering constellations |
Lepus Caelum Pictor Puppis Canis Major |
|
Visible at latitudes between +45° and −90°. |
|
Columba is a small, faint constellation created in the late sixteenth century. Its name is Latin for dove. It is located just south of Canis Major and Lepus.
Contents |
History [edit]
Columba was created by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in 1592 in order to differentiate the 'unformed stars' of the large constellation Canis Major.[1] Plancius first depicted Columba on the small celestial planispheres of his large wall map of 1592. It is also shown on his smaller world map of 1594 and on early Dutch celestial globes.
Plancius originally named the constellation Columba Noachi ("Noah's Dove"), referring to the dove that gave Noah the information that the Great Flood was receding. This name is found on early 17th-century celestial globes and star atlases (such as Bayer's Uranometria of 1603[2]). Columba may also represent the dove released by Jason and the Argonauts at the Black Sea's mouth; it helped them navigate the dangerous Symplegades.[1]
In the Society Islands, Alpha Columbae (Phaet) was called Ana-iva.[3]
Notable features [edit]
Stars [edit]
Columba is rather inconspicuous, the brightest star, Alpha Columbae, being only of magnitude 2.7. Alpha Columbae, a blue-white star, is traditionally called Phact, which means "ring dove". Alpha Columbae is 268 light-years from Earth. The only other named star in Columba is Beta Columbae, which has the name Wazn. It is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 3.1, 86 light-years from Earth.[1]
Columba is the constellation that is at the solar antapex - the Earth (and Sun) is moving away from its direction as the solar system moves through space.
The constellation contains the runaway star μ Columbae, which was probably expelled from the ι Orionis system.
Deep-sky objects [edit]
There is one globular cluster in Columba, 7th-magnitude NGC 1851. It is 35,000 light-years from Earth and is resolvable in medium-sized amateur telescopes.[1]
See also [edit]
Citations [edit]
- ^ a b c d Ridpath & Tirion 2001, pp. 120-121.
- ^ Canis Maior and Columba in Bayers Uranometria 1603 (Linda Hall Library)
- ^ Makemson 1941, p. 281.
References [edit]
- Makemson, Maud Worcester (1941). The Morning Star Rises: an account of Polynesian astronomy. Yale University Press. p. 281.
- Ridpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil (2001), Stars and Planets Guide, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-08913-2
- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0-00-725120-9. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0-691-13556-4.
External links [edit]
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