Fornax
 Click for larger image | |
| List of stars in Fornax | |
| Abbreviation: | For |
| Genitive: | Fornacis |
| Symbology: | the furnace |
| Right ascension: | 3 h |
| Declination: | −30° |
| Area: | 398 sq. deg. (41st) |
| Main stars: | 2 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars: | 29 |
| Stars known to have planets: | 1 |
| Bright stars: | 0 |
| Nearby stars: | 2 |
| Brightest star: | α For (3.87m) |
| Nearest star: | HD 14412 (41.35 ly) |
| Messier objects: | None |
| Meteor showers: | None |
| Bordering constellations: | Cetus Sculptor Phoenix Eridanus |
| Visible at latitudes between +50° and −90° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of December | |
Fornax (pronounced /ˈfɔrnæks/, Latin: furnace) is a southern constellation which was first introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille under the name Fornax Chemica (Latin for chemical furnace), representing a small solid-fuel heater formerly used for heating chemical experiments.
The Fornax Dwarf galaxy is in Fornax.
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is located within Fornax.
At a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society in Britain, a team from University of Queensland described 40 unknown "dwarf" galaxies in this constellation.
They also described Fornax as being "on Earth's doorstep", because α Fornacis is only about 46 light-years away.
Follow-up observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope revealed that Ultra Compact Dwarfs are much smaller than previously known dwarf galaxies, about 120 light-years across.
"Tens of millions of stars are squashed into what is a tiny volume by galaxy standards," the observatory said in a statement.
The Fornax Cluster, a small cluster of galaxies lies primarily in the constellation Fornax.
Mythology
In Roman mythology, Fornax was the goddess of bread and baking, although this has nothing to do with the constellation (fornax is just the Roman word for furnace), as the constellation was created in 1756.
Deep sky objects
NGC 1316 is a notably bright elliptical galaxy within the Fornax Cluster. The galaxy is also one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.
References
- Ian Ridpath and Wil Tirion (2007). Stars and Planets Guide, Collins, London. ISBN 978-0007251209. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 978-0691135564.
External links
- The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Fornax
- Starry Night Photography - Fornax Constellation
- Star Tales – Fornax
| The 88 modern constellations |
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| Constellation history | ||||||||
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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Fornax". Image Credit.
