Indus constellation is located in the southern hemisphere. It does not contain any bright stars. The constellation represents the Indian, referring to a native of either of Asia or the Americas at the time the constellation was created.
The constellation was created by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in the late 16th century and first depicted in a star atlas in Johann Bayer’s Uranometria atlas in 1603. Plancius depicted Indus as a naked man holding arrows in both hands. Indus is a relatively dim constellation. Its brightest stars are only of third magnitude. The constellation contains several notable galaxies, including NGC 7049, NGC 7064, NGC 7083, NGC 7090, and IC 5152.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Indus is the 49th constellation in size, occupying an area of 294 square degrees. It lies in the fourth quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +15° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Grus, Microscopium, Octans, Pavo, Sagittarius, Telescopium and Tucana.
Indus belongs to the Johann Bayer family of constellations, along with Apus, Chamaeleon, Dorado, Grus, Hydrus, Musca, Pavo, Phoenix, Tucana and Volans.
Indus has two stars with known planets and contains no Messier objects. The brightest star in the constellation is The Persian, Alpha Indi, with an apparent magnitude of 3.11. There are no meteor showers associated with the constellation.
STORY
There are no myths associated with the constellation. The Indian is usually depicted holding arrows or spears as though hunting. The early depictions, including the one in Bayer’s Uranometria, indicate that Indus might represent a native of Madagascar as depicted in an account of Dutch navigators’ first voyage to the East Indies.
However, it is unclear whether the constellation really represents a native of the East Indies, or Madagascar, or South Africa, as the explorers encountered a number of indigenous peoples on their travels.
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