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Microscopium

Coordinates:Sky map21h00m00s,−36° 00′ 00″
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"The Microscope" redirects here. For the instrument, seemicroscope.For other uses, seeMicroscope (disambiguation).

Microscopium
Constellation
Microscopium
List of stars in Microscopium
AbbreviationMic
GenitiveMicroscopii
Pronunciation/ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiəm/,genitive/ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiaɪ/
SymbolismtheMicroscope
Right ascension21h
Declination−36°
QuadrantSQ4
Area210 sq. deg. (66th)
Main stars5
Bayer/Flamsteed
stars		13
Stars withplanets2
Stars brighter than 3.00m0
Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly)2
Brightest starγ Mic(4.67m)
Messier objects0
Meteor showersMicroscopids
Bordering
constellations
Visible at latitudes between +45° and −90°.
Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month ofSeptember.

Microscopium/ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiəm/( "theMicroscope") is a minorconstellationin thesouthern celestial hemisphere,one of twelve created in the 18th century by FrenchastronomerNicolas-Louis de Lacailleand one of several depicting scientific instruments. The name is aLatinisedform of theGreekword formicroscope.Itsstarsare faint and hardly visible from most of the non-tropicalNorthern Hemisphere.

The constellation's brightest star isGamma Microscopiiofapparent magnitude4.68, a yellow giant 2.5 times the Sun's mass located 223 ± 8 light-years distant. It passed within 1.14 and 3.45 light-years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago, possibly disturbing the outer Solar System. Three star systems—WASP-7,AU MicroscopiiandHD 205739—have been determined to haveplanets,while other star —the Sun-like starHD 202628— has adebris disk.AU Microscopii and the binary red dwarf systemAT Microscopiiare probably a wide triple system and members of theBeta Pictoris moving group.Nicknamed "Speedy Mic",BO Microscopiiis a star with an extremely fast rotation period of 9 hours, 7 minutes.

Characteristics

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Microscopium is a small constellation bordered byCapricornusto the north,Piscis AustrinusandGrusto the east,Sagittariusto the west, andIndusto the south, touching onTelescopiumto the southwest. The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by theInternational Astronomical Unionin 1922, is "Mic".[1]The official constellation boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomerEugène Delportein 1930, are defined by a polygon of four segments (illustrated in infobox). In theequatorial coordinate system,theright ascensioncoordinates of these borders lie between20h27.3mand21h28.4m,while thedeclinationcoordinates are between −27.45° and −45.09°.[2]The whole constellation is visible to observers south of latitude45°N.[3][a]Given that its brightest stars are of fifth magnitude, the constellation is invisible to the naked eye in areas with light polluted skies.[4][b]

Features

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The constellation Microscopium as it can be seen by the naked eye.

Stars

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See also:List of stars in Microscopium

French astronomerNicolas-Louis de Lacaillecharted and designated ten stars with theBayer designationsAlphathrough toIotain 1756. A star in neighbouring Indus that Lacaille had labelled Nu Indi turned out to be in Microscopium, so Gould renamed itNu Microscopii.Francis Bailyconsidered Gamma and Epsilon Microscopii to belong to the neighbouring constellation Piscis Austrinus, but subsequent cartographers did not follow this.[6]In his 1725Catalogus Britannicus,John Flamsteed labelled the stars 1, 2, 3 and 4 Piscis Austrini, which became Gamma Microscopii,HR 8076,HR 8110and Epsilon Microscopii respectively.[7]Within the constellation's borders, there are 43 stars brighter than or equal toapparent magnitude6.5.[c][3]

Depicting the eyepiece of the microscope isGamma Microscopii,[8]which—at magnitude of 4.68—is the brightest star in the constellation. Having spent much of its 620-million-year lifespan as a blue-whitemain sequencestar, it has swollen and cooled to become a yellowgiantofspectral typeG6III, with a diameter ten times that of the Sun.[9]Measurement of its parallax yields a distance of 223 ± 8 light years from Earth.[10]It likely passed within 1.14 and 3.45 light-years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago, at around 2.5 times the mass of the Sun, it is possibly massive enough and close enough to disturb theOort cloud.[11]Alpha Microscopiiis also an ageing yellow giant star of spectral type G7III with an apparent magnitude of 4.90.[12]Located 400 ± 30 light-years away from Earth,[13]it has swollen to 17.5 times the diameter of the Sun.[14]Alpha has a 10th magnitude companion, visible in 7.5 cm telescopes,[15][16]though this is a coincidental closeness rather than a true binary system.[14]Epsilon Microscopiilies 166 ± 5 light-years away,[17]and is a white star of apparent magnitude 4.7,[16]and spectral type A1V.[18]Theta1andTheta2Microscopiimake up a wide double whose components are splittable to the naked eye. Both are white A-classmagnetic spectrum variable starswith strong metallic lines, similar toCor Caroli.They mark the constellation's specimen slide.[8]

Many notable objects are too faint to be seen with the naked eye. AX Microscopii, better known asLacaille 8760,is ared dwarfwhich lies only 12.9 light-years from theSolar System.At magnitude 6.68, it is the brightest red dwarf in the sky.[19]BO Microscopiiis a rapidly rotating star that has 80% the diameter of the Sun. Nicknamed "Speedy Mic", it has a rotation period of 9 hours 7 minutes.[20]An active star, it has prominentstellar flaresthat average 100 times stronger than those of the Sun, and are emitting energy mainly in the X-ray and ultraviolet bands of the spectrum.[21]It lies 218 ± 4 light-years away from the Sun.[22]AT Microscopiiis a binary star system, both members of which are flare star red dwarfs. The system lies close to and may form a very wide triple system withAU Microscopii,[23]a young star which has aplanetary systemin the making with adebris disk.The three stars are candidate members of theBeta Pictoris moving group,one of the nearestassociations of starsthat share a common motion through space.[24]

TheAstronomical Society of Southern Africain 2003 reported that observations of four of theMira variablesin Microscopium were very urgently needed as data on their light curves was incomplete.[25]Two of them—RandS Microscopii—are challenging stars for novice amateur astronomers,[26]and the other two,UandRY Microscopii,are more difficult still.[25]Another red giant,T Microscopii,is asemiregular variablethat ranges between magnitudes 7.7 and 9.6 over 344 days.[27]Of apparent magnitude 11,DD Microscopiiis asymbiotic starsystem composed of an orange giant of spectral type K2III andwhite dwarfin close orbit, with the smaller star ionizing the stellar wind of the larger star. The system has a lowmetallicity.Combined with its high galactic latitude, this indicates that the star system has its origin in thegalactic haloof theMilky Way.[28]

HD 205739is a yellow-white main sequence star of spectral type F7V that is around 1.22 times as massive and 2.3 times as luminous as the Sun. It has a Jupiter-sized planet with an orbital period of 280 days that was discovered by theradial velocitymethod.[29]WASP-7is a star of spectral type F5V with an apparent magnitude of 9.54, about 1.28 times as massive as the Sun. Itshot Jupiterplanet—WASP-7b—was discovered bytransit methodand found to orbit the star every 4.95 days.[30]HD 202628is a sunlike star of spectral type G2V with a debris disk that ranges from 158 to 220 AU distant. Its inner edge is sharply defined, indicating a probable planet orbiting between 86 and 158 AU from the star.[31]

Deep sky objects

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Arp-Madore 2026-424taken by Hubble.[32]

Describing Microscopium as "totally unremarkable", astronomerPatrick Mooreconcluded there was nothing of interest for amateur observers.[33]NGC 6925is abarred spiral galaxyof apparent magnitude 11.3 which is lens-shaped, as it lies almost edge-on to observers on Earth, 3.7 degrees west-northwest of Alpha Microscopii.[34]SN 2011ei,aType II Supernovain NGC 6925, was discovered by Stu Parker in New Zealand in July 2011.[35]NGC 6923lies nearby and is a magnitude fainter still.[36]TheMicroscopium Voidis a roughly rectangular region of relatively empty space, bounded by incomplete sheets of galaxies from other voids.[37]TheMicroscopium Superclusteris an overdensity of galaxy clusters that was first noticed in the early 1990s. The component Abell clusters3695and3696are likely to be gravitationally bound, while the relations of Abell clusters3693and3705in the same field are unclear.[38]

Meteor showers

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Seen in the 1824 star chart setUrania's Mirror(in the lower left)

TheMicroscopidsare a minormeteor showerthat appear from June to mid-July.[39]

History

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Microscopium lies in a region where Ptolemy had listed six 'unformed' stars behind the tail of Piscis Austrinus.[40]Al-Sufidid not include these stars in his revision of theAlmagest,presumably because he could not identify them.[41]Microscopium was introduced in 1751–52 by Lacaille with the French namele Microscope,[42][43]after he had observed and catalogued 10,000 southern stars during a two-year stay at theCape of Good Hope.He devised fourteen new constellations in uncharted regions of theSouthern Celestial Hemispherenot visible from Europe. All but one honoured instruments that symbolised theAge of Enlightenment.[44]Commemorating thecompound microscope,[40]the Microscope's name had been Latinised by Lacaille toMicroscopiumby 1763.[42]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^While parts of the constellation technically rise above the horizon to observers between 45°N and62°N,stars within a few degrees of the horizon are to all intents and purposes unobservable.[3]
  2. ^Objects of magnitude 5.0 are barely visible to the unaided eye in the night skies of city-suburban transition areas.[5]
  3. ^Objects of magnitude 6.5 are among the faintest visible to the unaided eye in suburban-rural transition night skies.[5]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^Russell, Henry Norris(1922). "The new international symbols for the constellations".Popular Astronomy.Vol. 30. p. 469.Bibcode:1922PA.....30..469R.
  2. ^"Microscopium, constellation boundary".The Constellations.Retrieved13 July2012.
  3. ^abcIan Ridpath."Constellations: Lacerta–Vulpecula".Star Tales.Self-published.Retrieved29 November2014.
  4. ^Kambič, Bojan (2009).Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars.Springer. p. 341.ISBN978-0-387-85354-3.
  5. ^abBortle, John E. (February 2001)."The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale".Sky & Telescope.Sky Publishing Corporation.Retrieved29 November2014.
  6. ^Wagman 2003,pp. 181, 210.
  7. ^Wagman 2003,p. 458.
  8. ^abMotz, Lloyd; Nathanson, Carol (1991).The Constellations: An Enthusiast's Guide to the Night Sky.London: Aurum Press. pp. 369–370.ISBN978-1-85410-088-7.
  9. ^Kaler, James B."Gamma Mic".Stars.Retrieved13 July2012.
  10. ^Brown, A. G. A.;et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018)."GaiaData Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties ".Astronomy & Astrophysics.616.A1.arXiv:1804.09365.Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this sourceatVizieR.
  11. ^Bailer-Jones, C.A.L. (2015). "Close encounters of the stellar kind".Astronomy & Astrophysics.575:13.arXiv:1412.3648.Bibcode:2015A&A...575A..35B.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425221.S2CID59039482.A35.
  12. ^"Alpha MicroscopiI".SIMBAD.Retrieved15 July2012.
  13. ^Brown, A. G. A.;et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018)."GaiaData Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties ".Astronomy & Astrophysics.616.A1.arXiv:1804.09365.Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this sourceatVizieR.
  14. ^abKaler, James B."Alpha Mic".Stars.Retrieved19 March2015.
  15. ^Malin, David; Frew, David J. (1995).Hartung's Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes, with an Addendum for Northern Observatories: A Handbook for Amateur Observers.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 287.ISBN978-0-521-55491-6.
  16. ^abRidpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil (2007).Stars and Planets Guide.Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 184–185.ISBN978-0-691-13556-4.
  17. ^Brown, A. G. A.;et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018)."GaiaData Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties ".Astronomy & Astrophysics.616.A1.arXiv:1804.09365.Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this sourceatVizieR.
  18. ^"Epsilon Microscopii".SIMBAD.Retrieved15 July2012.
  19. ^Croswell, Ken (July 2002)."The Brightest Red Dwarf".Sky & Telescope.p. 32.Retrieved15 July2012.
  20. ^Dunstone, N.J.; Barnes, J.R.; Collier Cameron, A.; Jardine, M. (2006)."The coronal structure of Speedy Mic – I. A densely packed prominence system beyond corotation".Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.365(2): 530–538.arXiv:astro-ph/0510739.Bibcode:2006MNRAS.365..530D.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09729.x.S2CID11048210.
  21. ^Wolter, U.; Robrade, J.; Schmitt, J.H.M.M.; Ness, J.U. (2008). "Doppler imaging an X-ray flare on the ultrafast rotator BO Mic. A contemporaneous multiwavelength study using XMM-Newton and VLT".Astronomy and Astrophysics.478(1): L11–L14.arXiv:0712.0899.Bibcode:2008A&A...478L..11W.doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078838.S2CID62827486.
  22. ^Brown, A. G. A.;et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018)."GaiaData Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties ".Astronomy & Astrophysics.616.A1.arXiv:1804.09365.Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this sourceatVizieR.
  23. ^Caballero, J.A. (November 2009). "Reaching the boundary between stellar kinematic groups and very wide binaries. The Washington double stars with the widest angular separations".Astronomy and Astrophysics.507(1): 251–259.arXiv:0908.2761.Bibcode:2009A&A...507..251C.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912596.S2CID118194112.
  24. ^McCarthy, Kyle; White, Russel J. (2012). "The Sizes of the Nearest Young Stars".The Astronomical Journal.143(6): 134–168.arXiv:1201.6600.Bibcode:2012AJ....143..134M.doi:10.1088/0004-6256/143/6/134.S2CID118538522.
  25. ^abCooper, Tim (2003). "Presidential address: Amateur Observations – Successes and Opportunities".Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa.62:234–240.Bibcode:2003MNSSA..62..234C.
  26. ^Levy, David H. (1998).Observing Variable Stars: A Guide for the Beginner.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 172.ISBN978-0-521-62755-9.
  27. ^Arnold, H.J.P; Doherty, Paul; Moore, Patrick (1999).The Photographic Atlas of the Stars.Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 53.ISBN978-0-7503-0654-6.
  28. ^Pereira, C.B.; Roig, F. (2009)."High-Resolution Spectroscopic Observations of Four Yellow-Type Symbiotic Stars: CD-43°14304, Hen 3-1213, Hen 3-863, and StHα 176".The Astronomical Journal.137(1): 118–128.Bibcode:2009AJ....137..118P.doi:10.1088/0004-6256/137/1/118.
  29. ^López-Morales, Mercedes; Butler, R. Paul; Fischer, Debra A.; Minniti, Dante; Shectman, Stephen A.; Takeda, Genya; Adams, Fred C.; Wright, Jason T.; Arriagada, Pamela (2008). "Two Jupiter-Mass Planets Orbiting HD 154672 and HD 205739".The Astronomical Journal.136(5): 1901–1905.arXiv:0809.1037.Bibcode:2008AJ....136.1901L.doi:10.1088/0004-6256/136/5/1901.S2CID119242543.
  30. ^Hellier, Coel; Anderson, D.R.; Gillon, M.; Lister, T.A.; Maxted, P.F.L.; Queloz, D.; Smalley, B.; Triaud, A.H.M.J.; West, R.G.; Wilson, D.M.; Alsubai, K.; Bentley, S.J.; Cameron, A. Collier; Hebb, L.; Horne, K.; Irwin, J.; Kane, S.R.; Mayor, M.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.; Skillen, I.; Udry, S.; Wheatley, P.J.; Christian, D.J.; Enoch, R.; Haswell, C.A.; Joshi, Y.C.; Norton, A.J.; Parley, N.; Ryans, R. (2008). "Wasp-7: A Bright Transiting-Exoplanet System in the Southern Hemisphere".The Astrophysical Journal Letters.690(1): L89–L91.arXiv:0805.2600.Bibcode:2009ApJ...690L..89H.doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/1/L89.S2CID15962609.
  31. ^Nesvold, Erika R.; Kuchner, Marc J. (2015). "Gap Clearing by Planets in a Collisional Debris Disk".The Astrophysical Journal.798(2): 10.arXiv:1410.7784.Bibcode:2015ApJ...798...83N.doi:10.1088/0004-637X/798/2/83.S2CID118667155.83.
  32. ^"Hubble Captures Cosmic Face".www.spacetelescope.org.Retrieved31 October2019.
  33. ^Moore, Patrick(2000).Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.110.ISBN978-0-521-79390-2.
  34. ^Bakich, Michael E. (2010).1001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die: The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers.Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series. Springer. p. 289.ISBN978-1-4419-1776-8.
  35. ^"Supernova 2011ei in NGC 6925".Rochester Astronomy.Archived fromthe originalon 20 June 2015.Retrieved20 June2015.
  36. ^Moore, Patrick; Tirion, Wil (1997).Cambridge Guide to Stars and Planets.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.210.ISBN978-0-521-58582-8.
  37. ^Maurellis, A.; Fairall, A.P.; Matravers, D.R.; Ellis, G.F.R. (1990). "A two-dimensional sheet of galaxies between two southern voids".Astronomy and Astrophysics.229(1): 75–79.Bibcode:1990A&A...229...75M.ISSN0004-6361.
  38. ^Pearson, David W.; Batuski, David J. (2013)."Locating bound structure in an accelerating universe".Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.436(1): 796–806.arXiv:1308.5154.Bibcode:2013MNRAS.436..796P.doi:10.1093/mnras/stt1614.S2CID119271703.
  39. ^Molau, Sirko; Kac, Javor; Berko, Erno; Crivello, Stefano; Stomeo, Enrico; Igaz, Antal; Barentsen, Geert (July 2012). "Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network".WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization.40(5): 181–186.Bibcode:2012JIMO...40..181M.
  40. ^abRidpath, Ian."Microscopium the Microscope".Star Tales.Online edition.Retrieved22 July2023.
  41. ^Hafez, Ihsan (October 2010).Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi and his book of the fixed stars: a journey of re-discovery.James Cook University(phd). p. 251.
  42. ^abRidpath, Ian."Lacaille's Southern Planisphere of 1756".Star Tales.Online edition.Retrieved19 March2015.
  43. ^Lacaille, Nicolas Louis (1756)."Relation abrégée du Voyage fait par ordre du Roi au cap de Bonne-espérance".Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences(in French): 519–592 [589].
  44. ^Wagman 2003,pp. 6–7.

Cited texts

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  • Wagman, Morton (2003).Lost Stars: Lost, Missing and Troublesome Stars from the Catalogues of Johannes Bayer, Nicholas Louis de Lacaille, John Flamsteed, and Sundry Others.Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company.ISBN978-0-939923-78-6.
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