The Dolphinfish
| Abbreviation: | Dor |
| Genitive: | Doradus |
| Origin: | Frederick de Houtmann, Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, Petrus Plancius |
| Fully Visible: | 90°S – 20°N |
Near the end of the sixteenth century, the observations of Dutch explorers Frederick de Houtman (c.1571–1627) and Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (c.1540–1596) allowed Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius (1552–1622) to place this constellation on his 1598 celestial globe. Although the current name is properly translated as a dolphinfish or mahi-mahi, some old star atlases refer to this constellation as the swordfish after an alternative name, Xiphias, which was popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This constellation is home to the south ecliptic pole.
Notable Features
| Visible Named Stars | ||
|---|---|---|
| The brightest star in the constellation, α Dor, is third-magnitude. None of the visible stars in this constellation have an official name. | ||
| Other Interesting Stars | ||
| CPD−64 484 | Naledi | This tenth-magnitude star is known to have at least one exoplanet named Krotoa. It is located on the chart between δ Dor and 36 Dor |
| Deep Sky Objects | ||
| Large Magellanic Cloud | This irregular galaxy is one of the Milky Way's nearest galactic neighbours. It seems to have a bar-like structure, suggesting that it might be have been a barred spiral before being disrupted by our galaxy's gravitational field. It is visible to the naked eye as a hazy patch of light but binoculars or a small telescope reveal clusters and nebulae within it. | |
| C103 | Tarantula Nebula | The Tarantula Nebula is a star-forming region within the LMC, much like our own galaxy's Orion Nebula but much larger. Binoculars or small telescopes reveal a wealth of detail in both of these objects. |
Copyright © 1995–2023 by L.M. Stockman and David Harper