Caelum

Coordinates: Sky map 05h 00m 00s, −40° 00′ 00″
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the cargo ship, see
USS Caelum (AK-106)
.
Caelum
Constellation
81st)
Main stars4
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars		8
Stars with planets1
Stars brighter than 3.00m0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)0
Brightest starα Cae (4.45m)
Messier objects0
Meteor showers1
Bordering
constellations		Columba
Lepus
Eridanus
Horologium
Dorado
Pictor
Visible at latitudes between +40° and −90°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of January.

Caelum

88 modern constellations. Its name means "chisel" in Latin, and it was formerly known as Caelum Sculptorium ("Engraver's Chisel"); it is a rare word, unrelated to the far more common Latin caelum, meaning "sky", "heaven", or "atmosphere".[3] It is the eighth-smallest constellation, and subtends a solid angle of around 0.038 steradians, just less than that of Corona Australis
.

Due to its small size and location away from the plane of the Milky Way, Caelum is a rather barren constellation, with few objects of interest. The constellation's brightest star, Alpha Caeli, is only of magnitude 4.45, and only one other star, (Gamma) γ1 Caeli, is brighter than magnitude 5 . Other notable objects in Caelum are RR Caeli, a binary star with one known planet approximately 20.13 parsecs (65.7 ly) away; X Caeli, a Delta Scuti variable that forms an optical double with γ1 Caeli; and HE0450-2958, a Seyfert galaxy that at first appeared as just a jet, with no host galaxy visible.

History

Caelum was incepted as one of fourteen southern constellations in the 18th century by

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer and celebrated of the Age of Enlightenment.[4]
It retains its name Burin among French speakers, latinized in his catalogue of 1763 as Caelum Sculptoris (“Engraver's Chisel”).[5]

Caelum depicted in Urania's Mirror
Seen as “Cela Sculptoris” in the lower right of this 1825 star chart from Urania's Mirror

échoppe tied by a ribbon, but came to be ascribed a simple chisel.[6] Johann Elert Bode stated the name as plural with a singular possessor, Caela Scalptoris – in German (die ) Grabstichel (“the Engraver’s Chisels”) – but this did not stick.[7][8]

Characteristics

Caelum is bordered by

88 modern constellations
in size.

Its main asterism consists of four stars, and twenty stars in total are brighter than magnitude 6.5 .[1]

The constellation's boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte in 1930, are a 12-sided polygon. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between 04h 19.5m and 05h 05.1m and declinations of −27.02° to −48.74°.[2] The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted the three-letter abbreviation “Cae” for the constellation in 1922.[9]

Its main stars are visible in favourable conditions and with a clear southern horizon, for part of the year as far as about the 41st parallel north[1][a]

These stars avoid being engulfed by daylight for some of every day (when above the horizon) to viewers in mid- and well-inhabited higher latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Caelum shares with (to the north) Taurus, Eridanus and Orion midnight culmination in December (high summer), resulting in this fact. In winter (such as June) the constellation can be observed sufficiently inset from the horizons during its rising before dawn and/or setting after dusk as it culminates then at around mid-day, well above the sun. In South Africa, Argentina, their sub-tropical neighbouring areas and some of Australia in high June the key stars may be traced before dawn in the east; near the equator the stars lose night potential in May to June; they ill-compete with the Sun in northern tropics and sub-tropics from late February to mid-September with March being unfavorable as to post-sunset due to the light of the Milky Way.

Notable features

Stars

See also: List of stars in Caelum

Caelum is a faint constellation: It has no star brighter than magnitude 4 and only two stars brighter than magnitude 5.

Lacaille gave six stars

Bayer designations, labeling them Alpha (α ) to Zeta (ζ ) in 1756, but omitted Epsilon (ε ) and designated two adjacent stars as Gamma (γ ). Bode extended the designations to Rho (ρ ) for other stars, but most of these have fallen out of use.[7] Caelum is too far south for any of its stars to bear Flamsteed designations.[b]

Image of the constellation Caelum, showing the pattern of its stars as seen in the night sky
The constellation Caelum as it can be seen by the naked eye.

The brightest star,

B-type subgiant and is much farther from Earth, at 216 parsecs (700 ly).[14]

pulsating red giant of spectral type M1III,[19] which varies between magnitudes 6.44 and 6.56 .[20]

Three other stars in Caelum are still occasionally referred to by their Bayer designations, although they are only on the edge of naked-eye visibility.

K-type subgiant of spectral type K1.[26]
The other twelve naked-eye stars in Caelum are not referred to by Bode's Bayer designations anymore, including RV Caeli.

active galaxy
in Caelum

One of the nearest stars in Caelum is the

cataclysmic variable.[30]

Deep-sky objects

Due to its small size and location away from the plane of the Milky Way, Caelum is rather devoid of deep-sky objects, and contains no Messier objects. The only deep-sky object in Caelum to receive much attention is HE0450-2958, an unusual Seyfert galaxy. Originally, the jet's host galaxy proved elusive to find, and this jet appeared to be emanating from nothing.[31] Although it has been suggested that the object is an ejected supermassive black hole,[32] the host is now agreed to be a small galaxy that is difficult to see due to light from the jet and a nearby starburst galaxy.[33]

The 13th magnitude planetary nebula PN G243-37.1 is also in the eastern regions of the constellation. It is one of only a few planetary nebulae found in the galactic halo, being 20000±14000 light-years below the Milky Way's 1000 light-year-thick disk.[34]

Galaxies NGC 1595, NGC 1598, and the Carafe galaxy are known as the Carafe group. The Carafe galaxy is a Seyfert galaxy with ring. Its location is 4:28 / -47°54' (2000.0). [35][36]

Notes

  1. ^ While parts technically reach the horizon to observers between 41°N and 62°N, stars within a few degrees of the horizon are to all intents and purposes unobservable.[1]
  2. ^ Southern constellations such as Caelum have no Flamsteed designations because Flamsteed only catalogued stars that were visible from England,.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ridpath, Ian. "Constellations: Andromeda–Indus". Star Tales. self-published. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Caelum, Constellation Boundary". The Constellations. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  3. ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary Oxford University Press, 1879. Entries for caelum and caelum.
  4. ^ Ridpath, Ian. "Lacaille". Star Tales. self-published. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. N. L. de Lacaille
    , 1763
  6. ^ a b Ridpath, Ian. "Caelum". Star Tales. self-published. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-939923-78-6
    .
  8. ^ J. E. Bode: Allgemeine Beschreibung und Nachweisung der Gestirne nebst Verzeichniß der geraden Aufsteigung und Abweichung von 17240 Sternen, Doppelsternen, Nebelflecken und Sternhaufen. Berlin, 1801, p.17
  9. Bibcode:1922PA.....30..469R
    .
  10. University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
    . Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  11. ^ "* Alpha Caeli – Star in double system". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  12. ^ "GJ 174.1 B – Flare star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  13. ^ "LTT 2063 – High proper-motion Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  14. ^ "* Delta Caeli – Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  15. ^ "* Gamma Caeli – Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  16. ^ "V* X Caeli – Variable Star of Delta Scuti type". SIMBAD. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  17. ^ Templeton, M. (16 July 2010). "Delta Scuti and the Delta Scuti Variables". AAVSO Website. American Association of Variable Star Observers. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  18. ^ X., V. S.; Patrick, W. (4 January 2010). "X Caeli". AAVSO Website. American Association of Variable Star Observers. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  19. ^ "V* RV Caeli – Pulsating variable Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  20. ^ X., V. S. (25 August 2009). "RV Caeli". AAVSO Website. American Association of Variable Star Observers. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  21. ^ Ashland Astronomy Studio: Where Art and Science Converge. "Nu Caeli (HIP 22488)". Archived from the original on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  22. ^ a b "HR 1557 – Star in double system". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  23. ^ "CD-41 1593B – Star in double system". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  24. ^ Ashland Astronomy Studio: Where Art and Science Converge. "Lambda Caeli (HIP 21998)". Archived from the original on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  25. ^ "HR 1518 – Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  26. ^ "Zeta Caeli – Star". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  27. ^ a b "V* RR Caeli – Eclipsing binary of Algol type (detached)". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  28. doi:10.1086/300471
    .
  29. S2CID 119190656
    .
  30. S2CID 3569936
    .
  31. S2CID 4303895
    .
  32. S2CID 18433710
    .
  33. S2CID 15556375
    .
  34. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051
    .
  35. ^ Sky Catalogue 2000.0, Volume 2: Double Stars, Variable Stars and Nonstellar Objects (edited by Alan Hirshfeld and Roger W. Sinnott, 1985). Chapter 3: Glossary of Selected Astronomical Names.
  36. ^ Hugh C. Maddocks, Deep-Sky Name Index 2000.0 (Foxon-Maddocks Associates, 1991).

External links

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