Vulpecula

Vulpecula

Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the Northern Sky. Its name means "little fox" in Latin. People often just call it the Fox. Astronomers officially added it to the sky maps in the 17th century.

Vulpecula lives in a special area called the Summer Triangle. This triangle is formed by three very bright stars: Deneb, Vega, and Altair. Even though Vulpecula is not as easy to spot as other constellations, it has cool stars and objects that scientists love to study.

Features

The constellation Vulpecula means "little fox." It does not have any very bright stars. Its brightest star, Alpha Vulpeculae, shines at about magnitude 4.44 and is a red giant about 291 light-years away. This star looks like two stars when you see it through binoculars.

Vulpecula has some interesting deep-sky objects. The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) is a beautiful planetary nebula that looks like a dim glowing disk through binoculars. It was the first object of its kind found by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764. Another interesting sight is Brocchi's Cluster, also called "the Coathanger." It looks like a special star pattern through binoculars or a small telescope.

History

In the late 1600s, astronomer Johannes Hevelius created the constellation Vulpecula. It was first called Vulpecula cum ansere ("the little fox with the goose") or Vulpecula et Anser ("the little fox and the goose"). It showed a fox holding a goose. Later, the stars were split into two groups. But now they are together again under the name of the fox. The star named α Vulpeculae, Anser, reminds us of the goose.