Monoceros constellation lies in the northern sky, on the celestial equator. Its name means “the unicorn” in Latin.
Monoceros was introduced by the Dutch astronomer and cartographer Petrus Plancius from the observations of Dutch navigators in the 17th century. The constellation represents the mythical single-horned, horse-like creature.
Monoceros is a relatively faint constellation, containing only a few fourth magnitude stars, but it is nevertheless home to several notable stars: the famous variables S Monocerotis, R Monocerotis, and V838 Monocerotis, Plaskett’s Star, which is one of the most massive binary stars known, and the triple star Beta Monocerotis.
Monoceros also contains several interesting deep sky objects: the open cluster Messier 50 (NGC 2323), the Rosette Nebula, the Christmas Tree Cluster, the Cone Nebula, and Hubble’s Variable Nebula, among others.
FACTS, LOCATION & MAP
Monoceros is the 35th constellation in size, occupying an area of 482 square degrees. It is located in the second quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ2) and can be seen at latitudes between +75° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, Hydra, Lepus, Orion and Puppis.
Monoceros belongs to the Orion family of constellations, along with Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus and Orion.
Monoceros contains one Messier object – the open cluster Messier 50 (NGC 2323) – and has 16 stars with known planets. The brightest star in the constellation is Beta Monocerotis, with an apparent magnitude of 3.76. There are two meteor showers associated with the constellation: the December Monocerids and the Alpha Monocerids.
STORY
Monoceros first appeared on a globe by the Dutch cartographer and clergyman Petrus Plancius in 1612 as Monoceros Unicornis. The constellation was created to fill the area between two large constellations, Orion and Hydra, where there weren’t any constellations introduced in Greek times.
Plancius introduced the unicorn figure because the mythical animal appears several times in the Old Testament of the Bible. The constellation is not associated with any particular myth. The German astronomer Jakob Bartsch included the constellation in his 1624 star chart as Unicornus.
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