Columba constellation is located in the southern sky. Its name means “the dove” in Latin.
The constellation’s original name was Columba Noachi, meaning “Noah’s dove,” after the biblical dove that informed Noah that the Great Flood was receding.
Columba was introduced by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in the late 16th century and it later appeared in Johann Bayer’s star atlas Uranometria of 1603. The constellation contains the famous runaway star Mu Columbae, the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1808 and the globular cluster NGC 1851, among other objects.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Columba is the 54th constellation in size, occupying an area of 270 square degrees. It lies in the first quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +45° and -90°.
The neighboring constellations are Caelum, Canis Major, Lepus, Pictor, and Puppis. Columba can be seen just to the south of Canis Major and Lepus.
Columba has one star brighter than magnitude 3.00 and no stars located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth. The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha Columbae, also known as Phact. The nearest star is Gliese 218, located at a distance of 48.89 light years from Earth. Columba has one star, designated WASP-63, (spectral class G8) with a transiting planet.
Columba belongs to the Heavenly Waters family of constellations, along with Carina, Delphinus, Equuleus, Eridanus, Piscis Austrinus, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela. Columba does not contain any Messier objects. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
MYTH
Columba represents Noah’s dove in the sky. Petrus Plancius created the constellation from the stars located behind Argo Navis, the constellation that represented the Argonauts’ ship and was later split into several smaller constellations. Plancius later renamed Argo Navis to “Noah’s Ark” on a celestial globe of 1613.
In the myth, Noah’s dove is sent from the Ark to see if there is any dry land left after the Great Flood. The bird returns holding an olive branch in its beak, signalling that the flood is receding. In some interpretations, Columba represents the dove sent by the Argonauts between the Clashing Rocks to ensure the Argonauts’ safe passage.
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