Constellation Flying Pisces

Constellations > Flying Fish

Flying Fish is a constellation located in the southern sky. One of the tiny ones and displays a flying fish.

Belongs to modern constellations, therefore it is devoid of myths. It was created by Peter Planzius and recorded by Johannes Bayer in Uranometria (1603). From the very beginning they called it Piscis Volans, but then the first word was removed.

It contains several notable objects: the Lindsey-Shapley Ring (AM0644-741), NGC 2442, and the spiral galaxy NGC 2397.

Facts, position and map

With an area of ​​141 square degrees, the constellation Flying Pisces is the 76th largest constellation. Covers the second quadrant in the southern sky (SQ2). Can be found at latitudes between + 15 ° and -90 °. Neighboring Keel, Chameleon, Golden Fish, Table Mountain and Painter.

Accommodates 2 stars with planets and no Messier objects or meteor shower. The brightest star is Beta Flying Fish, which has an apparent magnitude of 3.77. Part of Johann Bayer’s group, along with Chameleon, Golden Fish, Indian, Fly, Peacock, Phoenix, Toucan, Crane, Southern Hydra and Bird of Paradise. Consider the diagram of the constellation Flying Pisces on the map of the starry sky.

History

It is one of the 12 constellations found by Dutch navigators Peter Dierkszoon and Frederick de Houtmann at the end of the 16th century. Depicted on a heavenly ball by Peter Planzius in 1598, who named it Vliegendenvis.

In 1603, Johann Bayer added Uranometria to the atlas under the name Piscis Volans. It existed in this form until the middle of the 19th century, when John Herschel suggested removing the first word. Francis Bailey agreed with it and in the British catalog of 1845 it appeared with its modern name.

The Flying Fish is a type of tropical fish that can jump out of water and glide through the air on small “wings”. In heaven, she is portrayed as if she is running away from the Golden Fish.

Main stars

Explore the bright stars of the constellation Flying Pisces in the southern hemisphere with detailed descriptions and characteristics.

Beta Flying Fish is an orange giant (K1III) with a visual magnitude of 3.77 (brightest in the constellation) and a distance of 107.5 light years. It exceeds the solar mass by 1.62 times and is 41 times brighter.

Gamma Flying Fish is a binary star located 142 light years away. Represented by an orange giant (K0III) and a yellow-white main sequence star (F2V). Their values ​​reach 3.78 and 5.68. The stars are separated by 14.1 arc seconds.

Zeta Flying Fish is a binary star with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.93 and a distance of 134 light years. The system consists of an orange giant (K0III) and a 10th magnitude satellite. Separated by 16.7 arc seconds.

Delta Flying Fish is a yellow-white bright giant (F6II) with an apparent magnitude of 3.97 and a distance of 660 light years.

Alpha Flying Fish is a chemically unusual Class A star with a strong spectrum and variable absorption lines for metals. The stellar classification is kA3hA5mA5 V. It is located 125 light years away and has a visual magnitude of 4.00. Age – 427 million years.

Epsilon Flying Fish is a triple star system with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.35 and a distance of 642 light years. The main object is the blue-white subgiant (B6IV). It is a spectroscopic binary star with a rotation period of 14.17 days. At 6.05 arc seconds, a companion with a visual magnitude of 8.1 rotates.

Theta Flying Fish is a white main sequence star (A0V) with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.19 and a distance of 239 light years.

This Flying Fish is a triple star system with an apparent magnitude of 5.28. It is approximately 356 light years distant. The main body is a white subgiant (A), accompanied by two 12th magnitude satellites located 30.8 and 42.4 arc seconds apart.

The Flying Fish Kappa is a triple star system, 393 light years distant. It is represented by a blue-white giant (B9III-IV) with a visual magnitude of 5.33, a white subgiant (A0IVMn) with an apparent magnitude of 5.63 and a star of 8.5 magnitude, separated from the second object by 37.7 arc seconds. The first two are separated by 65 arc seconds.

Iota Flying Fish is a blue-white subgiant (B7IV) with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.41 and a distance of 558 light years.

HD 76700 is a yellow dwarf (G6V) with an apparent magnitude of 8.13 and a distance of 194.6 light years. It is very similar in mass to the Sun, but brighter and older. Recently found a planet with an orbital period of 3.97097 days. The mass reaches 0.233 Jupiter.

Celestial objects

NGC 2397 is a spiral galaxy with an apparent magnitude of 12.68 and a distance of 60 million light years.

The core contains old red and yellow stars, and the outer spiral arms are areas of recent star formation.

On February 21, 1835, the galaxy was discovered by John Herschel. In 2006, a late-stage supernova was discovered – SN 2006bc.

The Lindsey-Shapley Ring (AM0644-741) is a lenticular galaxy without a bar. It is located 300 million light years away and has an apparent magnitude of 13.96.

Around the galaxy is a ring with a diameter of 150,000 light years. It is believed that it formed after a collision with another galaxy, due to which dust accumulated in AM0644-741 and started the process of star birth, and then spread from the galaxy and formed a ring.

The ring contains many hot blue stars. It is likely to expand for another 300 million years and then begin to disintegrate.

In 1960, Eric Lindsay and Harlow Shapley found her. Located next to the Large Magellanic Cloud (in the constellations of Mesa and Dorado).

Later, John Graham identified it as a kind of southern ring galaxy (sometimes called the Graham Ring).

NGC 2442 is an intermediate spiral galaxy discovered by John Herschel. He described one of the sleeves as “hooked”. It has a visual magnitude of 11.2 and a distance of 50 million light years. The visible disk and spiral arms span 150,000 light years.

Distorted appearance – the result of a collision with a smaller galaxy.

NGC 2434 is an elliptical galaxy with a visual magnitude of 11.3 and a distance of 21898 Megaparsec. It was found by John Herschel on December 23, 1834.

You have the opportunity to study the constellation Flying Pisces of the southern hemisphere more carefully if you use not only our photos, but 3D models and an online telescope. For an independent search, a map of the starry sky is suitable.

---