Sextans

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Sextans

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Abbreviation Sex
Genitive Sextantis
Symbology the Sextant
Right ascension 10 h
Declination 0°
Area List of constellations by area>Ranked 47th
Number of stars
(magnitude < 3) 0
Brightest star α Sex
(Apparent magnitude>App. magnitude 4.49)
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

For the Ancient Roman coin denomination, see sextans (coin).

For the Sextans Dwarf galaxy, see Sextans (dwarf galaxy).

Sextans (Latin for Sextant) is a minor southern constellation which was introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius.

Contents

1 Notable features
2 Notable deep sky objects
3 Mythology
4 Notable and named stars
5 See also
6 External links

Notable features
Sextans is not a particularly bright constellation. It has only one star above the fifth magnitude, namely α Sextantis at magnitude 4.49. The constellation contains a few double stars, including γ, 35, and 40 Sextantis. There are few notable variable stars.

Notable deep sky objects
There are a few galaxies in Sextans. The most notable is NGC 3115 (called the Spindle galaxy), a spiral galaxy of magnitude 9.1 that is seen edge-on. It is believed to be around 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 of magnitude 12.4, and NGC 3165 is of magnitude 13.9.

Designation Type Right ascension (J2000.0) Declination (J2000.0) Size Mag.
NGC 3115 galaxy 10^h 05^m 14.1^s -07° 43′ 09″ 8.3′ × 3.2′ 9.1
NGC 3166 galaxy 10^h 13^m 45.6^s +03° 25′ 31″ 5.2′ × 2.7′ 10.4
NGC 3169 galaxy 10^h 14^m 14.8^s +03° 28′ 00″ 4.8′ × 3.2′ 10.2

Mythology
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.

Notable and named stars

BD F Mag. Star Names and other designations Right ascension (J2000.0) Declination (J2000.0) Ly away Comments
α 15 4.49 Alpha Sextantis 10^h 07^m 56.3^s −00° 22' 18" 287
γ 8 5.05 Gamma Sextantis, ADS 7555 09^h 52^m 30.4^s −08° 06' 18" 262
double star; component magnitudes +5.58, +6.07
β 30 5.09v Beta Sextantis 10^h 30^m 17.5^s −00° 38' 13" 345
α² CVn type variable star
δ 29 5.21 Delta Sextantis 10^h 29^m 28.7^s −02° 44' 21" 300
ε 22 5.24 Epsilon Sextantis 10^h 17^m 37.8^s −08° 04' 08" 183
18 5.65 18 Sextantis 10^h 10^m 55.8^s −08° 25' 06"
19 5.77 19 Sextantis 10^h 12^m 48.3^s +04° 36' 53"
35 5.79 35 Sextantis, ADS 7902 10^h 43^m 20.9^s +04° 44' 52"
double star; component magnitudes: +5.79 +7.14
41 5.79 41 Sextantis, ADS 7942 10^h 50^m 18.1^s −08° 53' 52"
17 5.91 17 Sextantis 10^h 10^m 07.5^s −08° 24' 30"
25 5.97v SS Sextantis, 25 Sextantis 10^h 23^m 26.5^s −04° 04' 27"
6 6.01 6 Sextantis 09^h 51^m 14.0^s −04° 14' 36"
7 6.02 7 Sextantis 09^h 52^m 12.2^s +02° 27' 15"
14 6.21 14 Sextantis 10^h 06^m 47.4^s +05° 36' 41"
4 6.24 4 Sextantis 09^h 50^m 30.1^s +04° 20' 37"
33 6.26 33 Sextantis 10^h 41^m 24.2^s −01° 44' 30"
36 6.28 36 Sextantis 10^h 45^m 09.4^s +02° 29' 17"
26 6.33 26 Sextantis 10^h 26^m 36.9^s −00° 59' 17"
37 6.38 37 Sextantis 10^h 46^m 05.7^s +06° 22' 24"
13 6.45 13 Sextantis 10^h 04^m 08.4^s +03° 12' 04"
27 6.55 27 Sextantis 10^h 26^m 46.9^s −04° 23' 18"
34 6.57 34 Sextantis 10^h 42^m 37.5^s +03° 34' 59"
40 6.61 40 Sextantis, ADS 7936 10^h 49^m 17.3^s −04° 01' 27"
23 6.66v RS Sextantis, 23 Sextantis 10^h 21^m 02.0^s +02° 17' 23"
12 6.70 12 Sextantis 09^h 59^m 43.1^s +03° 23' 05"
9 6.72 9 Sextantis 09^h 54^m 06.7^s +04° 56' 43"
21 6.97 21 Sextantis 10^h 14^m 08.4^s −07° 59' 36"
31 6.98 31 Sextantis 10^h 30^m 31.0^s +02° 09' 01"
20 7.37 20 Sextantis 10^h 13^m 44.4^s −07° 23' 02"
15.6 LHS 292 10^h 48^m 13^s −11° 20' 12" 14.81
flare star
nearby
Source: The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed., The Hipparcos Catalogue, ESA SP-1200

See also

Constellations introduced by Johannes Hevelius in the 1690 text Firmamentum Sobiescianum
Canes Venatici | Lacerta | Leo Minor | Lynx | Scutum | Sextans | Vulpecula
Obsolete Constellations introduced by Johannes Hevelius in the 1690 text Firmamentum Sobiescianum
Cerberus | Mons Maenalus | Triangulum Minor

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[Special]

[The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Sextans]

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