Constellations

The Deep Photographic Guide to the
Constellations

The constellation of the month
JANUARY

Dorado, Mensa

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Names:

Latin: Dorado (Dor), Mensa (Men)
English: Swordfish, Table Spanish: Carpa Dorada, Meseta
German: Goldfisch, Tafelberg French: Dorade, Table

Dorado (top) and Mensa (below) are constellations for observers in the southern hemisphere. Their position is easy to find since they host the prominent Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), our neighbor galaxy which is already visible by naked eye. However, the constellation shapes are not very conspicious (see lines). Especially Mensa is hard to find with its faint stars. The brightest star Alpha Doradus is of 3.5th magnitude. Mensa has only stars at fifth magnitude or fainter.

In mid of January the shown field culminates at about 9:30 pm local time. The declination of the constellation borders reaches from -85 to -49 degrees.

Deep Sky observers can find, beside the LMC, a couple of galaxies starting at about 10 mag in this field of view (see also the magnifications).

© all photographs taken by Till Credner and Sven Kohle