Apus constellation is located in the southern hemisphere. It is a small constellation that represents the bird of paradise. The name of the constellation is derived from the Greek word apous, which means “footless.” (Birds of paradise were at one point in history believed to lack feet.) There are no myths associated with the constellation.
Apus was created by the Dutch astronomer and cartographer Petrus Plancius from the observations of Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick Houtman, and first catalogued by Plancius in the late 16th century.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Apus is the 67th constellation in size, occupying an area of 206 square degrees. It lies in the third quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +5° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Ara, Chamaeleon, Circinus, Musca, Octans, Pavo, and Triangulum Australe.
Apus has two star systems with known exoplanets, HD 131664 (G3V) and HD 134606 (G6IV).
The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Apodis. The nearest star, HD 128400, lies at a distance of 66.36 light years from Earth. Apus does not have any stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 or located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth.
Apus belongs to the Johann Bayer family of constellations, along with Chamaeleon, Dorado, Grus, Hydrus, Indus, Musca, Pavo, Phoenix, Tucana, and Volans.
Apus does not contain any Messier objects and there are no meteor showers associated with the constellation. Apus is home to two notable deep sky objects: the globular clusters NGC 6101 and IC 4499. It also contains the galaxies IC 4633 and IC 4635.
STORY
Apus was originally named Paradysvogel Apis Indica by Petrus Plancius, who created and introduced the constellation. Paradysvogel means “the bird of paradise” in Dutch, and Apis Indica is Latin for “indian bee.” Apis, the word for “bee,” was presumably used in error and the constellation should have been named Avis, which means “bird.”
The constellation was also called Apis Indica in Bayer’s Uranometria, while other astronomers, like Johannes Kepler, referred to it as Avis Indica, as Kepler did in his Rudolphine Tables in 1627. As a result of the confusion, Avis Indica was renamed to Apus, and Apis, the constellation representing the bee, became Musca, the fly.
French astronomer Lacaille called the constellation Apus in his chart of the southern skies published in 1763, but both Apis and Avis continued to be used well into the 19th century.
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