Circinus constellation
Latin Circinus, genitive Circini, abbreviation Cir
North up, east to the left, as you see the sky. The lines are a common figure; the stars are from the catalogue.
The myth
One of the constellations the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille introduced around 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. He named the hitherto nameless southern sky after the tools of art and science. There is no myth to it.
When can Circinus be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in June. It can be seen from everywhere south of 19°N, and it never sets south of 31°S.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | α Cir | 3.19 | white |
| – | β Cir | 4.07 | white |
| – | γ Cir | 4.51 | white |
| – | ε Cir | 4.86 | orange |
The smaller the number, the brighter: below 1 are the brightest stars of the sky, 4 is hard to see under a city sky. Greek letters after Johann Bayer (1603).