Corvus (constellation)
Encyclopedia
Corvus is a small constellation
in the southern sky. Its name is Latin
for raven
or crow
. It includes only 11 stars visible to the naked eye
(brighter than magnitude
5.5). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy
, who only counted 7 stars, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
, ε
, and β Crv
, form an asterism
known as "the "Spica
's Spanker
" or "the Sail". γ and δ serve as pointers toward Spica.
31 Crateris (which was originally placed within in Crater
) is a 5.2 magnitude star which was once mistaken for a moon of Mercury
.
s.
The Antennae peculiar galaxy
consists of the colliding NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, and appears to have a heart shape as seen from Earth. The name originates from the huge tidal tails that come off the ends of the two galaxies.
The center of Corvus is home to a planetary nebula
NGC 4361. The nebula itself resembles a small elliptical galaxy
, but the magnitude 13 star at its centre gives away its true nature.
). The Babylonian constellation was sacred to Adad
, the god of rain and storm; in the second Millennium it would have risen just before the start of the autumnal rainy season.
See the story at constellations Crater and Hydra.
Once the crow had beautiful silver or snowy white feathers and could speak to humans, but that all changed. As Apollo
's sacred bird, the crow (or Raven) was told to watch over his pregnant love, Coronis. Coronis slowly lost interest in Apollo and was attracted to a mere mortal. The crow, who was secretly spying on her, reported her unfaithfulness to Apollo. In a rage of anger he unfairly turned the loyal raven's feathers black and took away its ability to speak. Coronis was killed by Apollo's twin sister Artemis
. The child of Coronis and Apollo was rescued and raised. He then became known as Asclepius
, the god of medicine and healing.
Another story is that when Apollo sent his raven to get some water in the god's cup (Crater), the raven waited for some fig
s to ripen and had a feast on them. He came back very late with a water snake (Hydra) and the water in the cup (Crater) he was sent for. The foolish raven blamed his tardiness on the water snake. Apollo was not tricked. He put the raven in the sky along with the water snake and the cup. Until this day, the snake keeps water from the eternally thirsty raven, yet the raven always sees the water, just out of reach.
, the stars of Corvus are located within the Vermillion Bird of the South
(南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què).
In Indian astronomy, the first five stars of Corvus correspond to the Hastā, the 11th nakshatra
or lunar mansion
.
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
in the southern sky. Its name is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
or crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
. It includes only 11 stars visible to the naked eye
Naked eye
The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception unaided by a magnifying or light-collecting optical device, such as a telescope or microscope. Vision corrected to normal acuity using corrective lenses is considered "naked"...
(brighter than magnitude
Magnitude (astronomy)
Magnitude is the logarithmic measure of the brightness of an object, in astronomy, measured in a specific wavelength or passband, usually in optical or near-infrared wavelengths.-Background:...
5.5). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, who only counted 7 stars, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.
Stars
Four principal stars, δ, γGamma Corvi
Gamma Corvi is the brightest star in the constellation Corvus. Its traditional name is Gienah, which it shares with Epsilon Cygni...
, ε
Epsilon Corvi
Epsilon Corvi is a star in the constellation Corvus. It has the traditional name Minkar, from Arabian ألمنخر almánxar meaning "the nostril of the crow"...
, and β Crv
Beta Corvi
Beta Corvi is the second brightest star in the constellation of Corvus. It also has the name Kraz....
, form an asterism
Asterism (astronomy)
In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction,...
known as "the "Spica
Spica
Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, and the 15th brightest star in the nighttime sky. It is 260 light years distant from Earth...
's Spanker
Spanker (sail)
A spanker is either of two kinds of sail.On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. Almost all square rigs with more than one mast have one or two spankers, which evolved from the driver sail. Some also carry a topsail above the...
" or "the Sail". γ and δ serve as pointers toward Spica.
31 Crateris (which was originally placed within in Crater
Crater (constellation)
Crater is a constellation. Its name is Latin for cup, and in Greek mythology it is identified with the cup of the god Apollo. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations...
) is a 5.2 magnitude star which was once mistaken for a moon of Mercury
Mercury's moon
A moon orbiting Mercury was, for a short time, believed to exist.On March 27, 1974, two days before Mariner 10 made its flyby of Mercury, instruments began registering large amounts of ultraviolet radiation in the vicinity of Mercury which, according to one astronomer, "had no right to be there"...
.
Notable deep sky objects
Corvus contains no Messier objectMessier object
The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. The original motivation of the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets...
s.
The Antennae peculiar galaxy
Peculiar galaxy
A peculiar galaxy is a galaxy which is unusual in its size, shape, or composition. Peculiar galaxies come about as a result of interactions between galaxies, and they may contain atypical amounts of dust or gas, may have higher or lower surface brightness than a typical galaxy, or may have...
consists of the colliding NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, and appears to have a heart shape as seen from Earth. The name originates from the huge tidal tails that come off the ends of the two galaxies.
The center of Corvus is home to a planetary nebula
Planetary nebula
A planetary nebula is an emission nebula consisting of an expanding glowing shell of ionized gas ejected during the asymptotic giant branch phase of certain types of stars late in their life...
NGC 4361. The nebula itself resembles a small elliptical galaxy
Elliptical galaxy
An elliptical galaxy is a galaxy having an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless brightness profile. They range in shape from nearly spherical to highly flat and in size from hundreds of millions to over one trillion stars...
, but the magnitude 13 star at its centre gives away its true nature.
History and mythology
The Greek figure of Corvus is modeled on the Babylonian Raven (MUL.UGA.MUSHEN), which was similarly placed sitting on the tail of the Serpent (Greek HydraHydra
Hydra is the name of the Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology."Hydra" may also refer to:- Astronomy :* Hydra , the largest of the modern star constellations* Hydra , a satellite of Pluto...
). The Babylonian constellation was sacred to Adad
Adad
Adad in Akkadian and Ishkur in Sumerian and Hadad in Aramaic are the names of the storm-god in the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon. All three are usually written by the logogram dIM...
, the god of rain and storm; in the second Millennium it would have risen just before the start of the autumnal rainy season.
See the story at constellations Crater and Hydra.
Once the crow had beautiful silver or snowy white feathers and could speak to humans, but that all changed. As Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
's sacred bird, the crow (or Raven) was told to watch over his pregnant love, Coronis. Coronis slowly lost interest in Apollo and was attracted to a mere mortal. The crow, who was secretly spying on her, reported her unfaithfulness to Apollo. In a rage of anger he unfairly turned the loyal raven's feathers black and took away its ability to speak. Coronis was killed by Apollo's twin sister Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
. The child of Coronis and Apollo was rescued and raised. He then became known as Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
, the god of medicine and healing.
Another story is that when Apollo sent his raven to get some water in the god's cup (Crater), the raven waited for some fig
Common fig
The Common fig is a deciduous tree growing to heights of up to 6 m in the genus Ficus from the family Moraceae known as Common fig tree. It is a temperate species native to the Middle East.-Description:...
s to ripen and had a feast on them. He came back very late with a water snake (Hydra) and the water in the cup (Crater) he was sent for. The foolish raven blamed his tardiness on the water snake. Apollo was not tricked. He put the raven in the sky along with the water snake and the cup. Until this day, the snake keeps water from the eternally thirsty raven, yet the raven always sees the water, just out of reach.
Equivalents
In Chinese astronomyChinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...
, the stars of Corvus are located within the Vermillion Bird of the South
Vermilion Bird (Chinese constellation)
The Vermilion bird is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion bird of the South...
(南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què).
In Indian astronomy, the first five stars of Corvus correspond to the Hastā, the 11th nakshatra
Nakshatra
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...
or lunar mansion
Lunar mansion
A lunar mansion is a segment of the ecliptic through which the moon moves in its orbit around the earth, often used by ancient cultures as part of their calendar system...
.