Musca

<a href="/facts/Celestial_coordinate_system/23HhqvHj">Coordinates</a>: <a href="http://www.wikisky.org/?ra=12.46&de=-70.34&zoom=2&show_grid=1&show_constellation_lines=1&show_constellation_boundaries=1&show_const_names=1&show_galaxies=1&img_source=IMG_all">12h 27m 36s, −70° 20′ 24″</a>

Musca is a small <a href="/facts/Constellation/nBQqgW8A">constellation</a> in the deep southern sky. It was one of 12 constellations created by <a href="/facts/Petrus_Plancius/4BHvuuKX">Petrus Plancius</a> from the observations of <a href="/facts/Pieter_Dirkszoon_Keyser/7LMJ53QU">Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser</a> and <a href="/facts/Frederick_de_Houtman/aU5zAzs7">Frederick de Houtman</a>, and it first appeared on a <a href="/facts/Globe/8Pqs2IuQ">celestial globe</a> 35 cm (14 in) in diameter published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius and <a href="/facts/Jodocus_Hondius/6qQXddYM">Jodocus Hondius</a>. The first depiction of this constellation in a <a href="/facts/Celestial_cartography/GPRwJbHh">celestial atlas</a> was in <a href="/facts/Johann_Bayer/EIQFIELY">Johann Bayer</a>'s <a href="/facts/Uranometria/uM3GxyWN">Uranometria</a> of 1603. It was also known as Apis (Latin for 'the <a href="/facts/Bee/HglXpXty">bee</a>') for 200 years. Musca remains below the horizon for most Northern Hemisphere observers.
Many of the constellation's brighter stars are members of the <a href="/facts/Scorpius%25E2%2580%2593Centaurus_association/FMWd5pWB">Scorpius–Centaurus association</a>, a loose group of hot blue-white stars that appears to share a common origin and motion across the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way</a>. These include <a href="/facts/Alpha_Muscae/wkV4kq4P">Alpha</a>, <a href="/facts/Beta_Muscae/NSt0jejw">Beta</a>, <a href="/facts/Gamma_Muscae/6c8RJl7Q">Gamma</a>, <a href="/facts/Zeta2_Muscae/gTXsfamY">Zeta2</a> and (probably) <a href="/facts/Eta_Muscae/y3uYHsp8">Eta Muscae</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/HD_100546/vsX29DMo">HD 100546</a>, a blue-white <a href="/facts/Herbig_Ae%2fBe_star/E5NPDj8K">Herbig Ae/Be star</a> that is surrounded by a complex <a href="/facts/Debris_disk/ClIxTnge">debris disk</a> containing a large <a href="/facts/Exoplanet/zjfmqfUf">planet</a> or <a href="/facts/Brown_dwarf/fa7kr9lH">brown dwarf</a> and possible protoplanet. Two further star systems have been found to have planets. The constellation also contains two <a href="/facts/Classical_Cepheid_variable/L5smFsNb">cepheid variables</a> visible to the naked eye. <a href="/facts/Theta_Muscae/fg8bsIgF">Theta Muscae</a> is a triple star system, the brightest member of which is a <a href="/facts/Wolf%25E2%2580%2593Rayet_star/YxHnTsF5">Wolf–Rayet star</a>.

Musca open-in-new

Musca