DELPHINUS
The Dolphin
(Del)


Generalities: it is a small but compact constellation of the northern sky, not far from the celestial equator. The transit at midnight takes place at the end of August.
 

Origins and mythology: this constellation belongs to the  original  Ptolemaic ones. It represents the dolphin that saved the great singer Arione, who was thrown into the sea by the crew of the ship on which he was  travelling. Then Arione founded  the city of Taranto, in southern Italy.

Stars: the Dolphin shows only three stars under  magnitude 3, but their proximity enables this constellation to be easily recognized whenever the sky isn’t too much illuminated by the city lights. The brightest star is beta, named Rotanev (m = 3.54),of white-yellow color, 125 light-years far. Alpha, named Sualocin, is white and 270 light-years far.

Other objects: the Dolphin doesn't contain any particular objects of the deep sky. Remarkable is a globular cluster, the farthest among the known ones (150,000 light-years).
 


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