Vulpecula constellation
Latin Vulpecula, genitive Vulpeculae, abbreviation Vul
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
A 17th-century constellation by Johannes Hevelius, originally a fox with a goose in its mouth. Small and faint, in the middle of the Summer Triangle.
When can Vulpecula be seen?
It stands highest around 10 pm in August. It can be seen from everywhere north of 55°S, and it never sets north of 69°N.
The brightest stars
| Star | Designation | Magnitude | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anser | α Vul | 4.44 | reddish |
| – | 23 Vul | 4.52 | orange |
| – | 13 Vul | 4.58 | bluish |
| – | 31 Vul | 4.59 | yellow |
| – | 15 Vul | 4.64 | white |
| – | 1 Vul | 4.77 | bluish |
| – | 29 Vul | 4.82 | bluish |
| – | 30 Vul | 4.91 | 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).