Delphinus constellation
Latin Delphinus, genitive Delphini, abbreviation Del
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
The dolphin that found the sea nymph Amphitrite for Poseidon and persuaded her to marry him. A small, distinct constellation east of the Eagle. Two of its stars are called Sualocin and Rotanev: read backwards, Nicolaus Venator, the Latin name of an astronomer at the Palermo observatory who wrote himself into the star catalogue this way in 1814.
When can Delphinus be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in August. It can be seen from everywhere north of 65°S, and it never sets north of 79°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotanev | β Del | 3.63 | yellowish white |
| Sualocin | α Del | 3.77 | bluish |
| Aldulfin | ε Del | 4.03 | bluish |
| Al Salib | γ2 Del | 4.27 | orange |
| Al Ukud | δ Del | 4.43 | yellowish white |
| – | ζ Del | 4.68 | white |
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).