Constellations of Musca with Crux
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Musca with Crux
Roll mouse over picture to see constellation figures and outlines
Image and text ©2008 Akira Fujii/David Malin Images.

In the picture above, north is at the top and the image covers 30.3 x 37.9 degrees.
Image centre is located at 12:34:25.4, -59:32:10 (H:M:S, D:M:S, J2000) Astrometric data from Astrometry.net.

Musca with Crux
Best seen in the early evening in May

In contrast to adjacent Crux, Musca (The Fly) is a much less obvious, less distinguished and less useful constellation that first appeared in Johann Bayer's 1603 Uranometria. It is one of a dozen created by the Dutch explorers/navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman on their voyages into the south seas in the late 16th century.

Named stars in Crux (none in Musca) are:   Mimosa (β Cru), Acrux (α Cru). (Greek alphabet)
Constellations adjoining Crux: Centaurus, Musca.
Constellations adjoining Musca: Apus, Carina, Centaurus, Chameleon, Circinus, Crux.

Related images (other sources -- see under 'Related Images' on these pages)

AAT 25.     NGC 4755, the Jewel Box open cluster in Crux
AAT 83.     NGC 5189, weird planetary nebula in Musca

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David Malin, 2017 April 29.