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Volans facts for kids

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Volans
Constellation
Volans
List of stars in Volans
Abbreviation Vol
Genitive Volantis
Pronunciation genitive
Symbolism the Flying Fish
Right ascension 8
Declination −70
Quadrant SQ2
Area 141 sq. deg. (76th)
Main stars 6
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars
12
Stars with planets 1
Stars brighter than 3.00m 0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) 1
Brightest star β Vol (3.77m)
Messier objects 0
Meteor showers 0
Bordering
constellations
Carina
Pictor
Dorado
Mensa
Chamaeleon
Visible at latitudes between +15° and −90°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of March.
Phylakopi flying fish
Painting of a flying fish

The constellation Volans is a group of stars in the southern sky. It is in the shape of a flying fish. The name Volans is a shortened from of its original, Piscis Volans. Volans was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius. He made these constellations from observations by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Volans first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius with Jodocus Hondius. The first image of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603.

Stars and deep sky objects

Ngc2442 potw cropped
Galaxy NGC 2442

There are two double stars in the constellation which can be observed using a small telescope, Gamma Volantis and Epsilon Volantis. There are also two galaxies that may be more difficult to see clearly, NGC 2442 and NGC 2434. The magnitudes of the Gamma Volantis stars are fourth and sixth, and of Epsilon Volantis fourth and eighth.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Volans para niños

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