Sextans
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| Abbreviation: | Sex |
| Genitive: | Sextantis, Sextansis |
| Symbology: | the Sextant |
| Right ascension: | 10 h |
| Declination: | 0° |
| Area: | 314 sq. deg. (47th) |
| Main stars: | 3 |
| Bayer/Flamsteed stars: | 29 |
| Stars with known planets: | 0 |
| Bright stars: | 0 |
| Nearby stars: | 1 |
| Brightest star: | α Sex (4.49m) |
| Nearest star: | LHS 292 (14.8 ly) |
| Messier objects: | None |
| Meteor showers: | Sextantids |
| Bordering constellations: | Leo Hydra Crater |
| Visible at latitudes between +80° and −80° Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of April |
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Sextans (IPA: /ˈsɛkstanz/, Latin: sextant) is a minor equatorial constellation which was introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius.
Being a modern constellation, Sextans has no mythology associated with it. It was deigned to represent a sextant, an instrument that Hevelius made frequent use of in his observations.
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[edit] Notable features
Sextans is not a particularly bright constellation. It has only one star above the fifth magnitude, namely α Sextantis at 4.49m. The constellation contains a few double stars, including γ, 35, and 40 Sextantis. There are few notable variable stars.
[edit] Notable deep sky objects
There are a few galaxies in Sextans. The most notable is NGC 3115 (called the Spindle Galaxy), a 9.1m spiral galaxy seen edge-on. It is located about 20 million light years away. There are a few other galaxies, including NGC 3156, NGC 3165, NGC 3166, and NGC 3169, a group of four galaxies 60 million light years away. NGC 3166 and NGC 3169 are the brightest of the quartet, at tenth magnitude. These two galaxies, which are separated by only around 50,000 light years, are so close to each other that they affect each other's structure. NGC 3156 is 12.4m, and NGC 3165 is 13.9m.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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