Lupus


Lupus


English nameWolf

Major
stars
alpha Lupimagn. 2,9RA: 14h 41m 55.80sDec: -47° 23' 17.4"
beta Lupimagn. 2,8RA: 14h 58m 31.92sDec: -43° 08' 02.4"
gamma Lupimagn. 3,0RA: 15h 35m 08.46sDec: -41° 10' 00.5"
delta Lupimagn. 3,4RA: 15h 21m 22.33sDec: -40° 38' 51.6"
zeta Lupimagn. 3,5RA: 15h 12m 17.15sDec: -52° 05' 56.8"

DescriptionConstellation of middling dimensions, situated to the east of Centaurus.

It contains many double and multiple stars, among which the best are epsilon, kappa, my, xi and pi Lupi, all easily visible with small telescopes. More difficulty it is separating eta Lupi, since it is a couple of stars with a big difference of shine: a blue star of third magnitude with a companion of eighth magnitude.

Remarkable is also NGC 5822, an open cluster on the border with Norma and Circinus: it is composed by about a hundred of stars and it is visible with binoculars too.


Mythology
and history
The Greeks called this constellation Therion, that is "wild animal", while the Romans gave it the name of Bestia. This undefined animal is represented in the sky while it is about to be sacrificed by Centaurus on Ara.

It seems that the identification of the Therion with a wolf became popular at the beginning of XV century.


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