Vulpecula | |
larger map | |
Abbreviation | Vul |
Genitive | Vulpeculae |
Meaning in English | the Fox |
Right ascension | 20 h |
Declination | 25° |
Visible to latitude | Between 90° and -55° |
On meridian | 9 p.m., September 10 |
Area - Total | Ranked 54th 278 sq. deg. |
Stars with apparent magnitude < 3 | None |
Brightest star - Apparent magnitude | Anser[?] (α Vul) 4.44 |
Meteor showers | NoneNone |
Bordering constellations |
• Cygnus • Lyra • Hercules • Sagitta • Delphinus • Pegasus |
Vulpecula, the Fox, is a faint northern constellation located in the middle of the Summer Triangle, an asterism consisting of the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair.
In 1967, the first pulsar, PSR 1919+21, was discovered in this little constellation by Antony Hewish[?] and Jocelyn Bell[?], in Cambridge. While they were searching after scintillation of radio signals of quasars, they found a very regular signal consisting of pulses of radiation at a rate of one in every few seconds. Terrestrial origin of the signal was ruled out because the time it took the object to reappear was a sidereal day instead of a solar day. This anomaly was finally identified as the signal of an fast rotating neutron star. The pulses came (and still come) every 1.3373 seconds - too regular to be associated with any other object. This new object was called CP 19191 for "Cambridge Pulsar near RA 19h 19m" and is nowadays called PSR 1919+21 for "PulSaR at RA 19h 19m and DECL +21 degrees".
The Dumbbell Nebula[?] (M27), one of the most observed deep sky objects, is huge planetary nebula which can easily be seen in binoculars where appears as a dim green glowing disk a quarter of the diameter of the full moon. A telescope reveals its double-lobed shape, like an hourglass shape. The Dumbbell Nebula, the first planetary nebula ever discovered, was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.
The Brocchi's Cluster[?], also called the Coathanger[?] due to its shape, is an open cluster easily seen with the naked eye with its distinctive star pattern.
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