Constellation of Delphinus
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Constellation of Delphinus
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Image and text ©2008 Akira Fujii/David Malin Images.

In the picture above north is at the top and the image covers 18.6 x 23.3 degrees.
Image centre is located at 20:15:34.3, +11:00:41 (H:M:S, D:M:S, J2000) Astrometric data from Astrometry.net.

Delphinus and part of Sagitta
Best seen in the early evening in September

Delphinus the Dolphin looks remarkably like the creature it represents. Delphinus is a small constellation of Greek origin, but despite its diminutive size it is quite easy to find. The bright star Altair in neighboring Aquila is probably the best guide. Delphinus' brightest star, Rotanev (β Del) is of magnitude 4, and its name honors the astronomer Nicolaus Venator (Rotonov backwards). The next brightest star in Delphinus is Sualocin, which at first glance appears Arabic, but is Nicolaus spelled backwards. He was assistant to the rather more famous Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. I have no idea why his name appears among the stars. The main stars of Sagitta are also well seen here.

Named stars in Delpinus (Greek alphabet)
Deneb Dulfim (ε Del), Rotanev (β Del), Sualocin (α Del).

Constellations adjoining Delphinus Aquarius, Aquila, Equuleus, Pegasus, Sagitta, Vulpecula.

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David Malin, 2009 October 15