The Constellation Eridanus

by Dominic Ford
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Eridanus

Eridanus is a long constellation which snakes its way from the feet of Orion, close to the celestial equator, all the way down to Tucana at a declination of almost 60°S. It can be found in the southern evening sky in the months around November.

It represents a mythical river, sometimes identified as either the Nile or the River Po in Italy.

It is the sixth largest modern constellation, but despite its size contains only two stars brighter than third magnitude. Its brightest star, Achernar lies at the far southern end of the river's path; its name is Arabic for ‘the river's end’.

Eridanus lies away from the plane of the Milky Way, but contains a number of bright deep sky objects nonetheless. Brightest among these is the elliptical galaxy NGC 1291 which lies close to the river's southern limit.

Date First Appeared
Ancient
Sky Area
2.8% of the sky
1137.9 square degrees
Messier Objects
Eridanus contains no Messier objects
Caldwell Objects
Eridanus contains no Caldwell objects
Neighbors
The following constellations neighbor Eridanus: Caelum, Cetus, Eridanus, Fornax, Horologium, Hydrus, Lepus, Orion, Phoenix, Taurus, Tucana.
Eridanus Eridanus
The constellation Eridanus as it appears to the unaided eye. Roll mouse over to see labels.
Source: Stellarium.

San Diego

Latitude:
Longitude:
Timezone:

32.72°N
117.16°W
PDT

Color scheme


Brightest Objects in Eridanus

Hover the pointer over the name of an object to highlight its position on the starchart to the right, or click to see more information.

Stars Open Clusters Globular Clusters Galaxies
Achernar (mag 0.5) NGC 1498 NGC 1269 (mag 8.7)
Cursa (mag 2.8) NGC 1395 (mag 9.7)
Zaurak (mag 3.0) NGC 1407 (mag 9.7)
Acamar (mag 3.2) NGC 1404 (mag 9.9)
δ-Eri (mag 3.5) NGC 1232 (mag 10.1)
φ-Eri (mag 3.5) NGC 1532 (mag 10.1)
υ⁴-Eri (mag 3.6) NGC 1332 (mag 10.4)
χ-Eri (mag 3.7) NGC 1300 (mag 10.5)
Ran (mag 3.7) NGC 1084 (mag 10.6)
τ⁴-Eri (mag 3.7) NGC 1537 (mag 10.7)
υ²-Eri (mag 3.8) NGC 1637 (mag 10.8)
Azha (mag 3.9) NGC 1427 (mag 10.9)
l-Eri (mag 3.9) NGC 1187 (mag 10.9)
ν-Eri (mag 3.9) NGC 1600 (mag 11.0)
d-Eri (mag 4.0) NGC 1400 (mag 11.1)
μ-Eri (mag 4.0) NGC 1700 (mag 11.2)
Beid (mag 4.0) IC 2006 (mag 11.3)
τ³-Eri (mag 4.1) NGC 1209 (mag 11.4)
θ²-Eri (mag 4.1) NGC 1439 (mag 11.4)
ι-Eri (mag 4.1) NGC 1453 (mag 11.4)
g-Eri (mag 4.2) NGC 1199 (mag 11.4)
κ-Eri (mag 4.2) NGC 1357 (mag 11.4)
τ⁶-Eri (mag 4.2) NGC 1353 (mag 11.5)
λ-Eri (mag 4.2) NGC 1426 (mag 11.5)
e-Eri (mag 4.3) NGC 685 (mag 11.5)
τ⁵-Eri (mag 4.3) NGC 1389 (mag 11.5)
DM Eri (mag 4.4) NGC 1421 (mag 11.5)
ω-Eri (mag 4.4) NGC 1415 (mag 11.5)
Keid (mag 4.4) NGC 1521 (mag 11.6)
π-Eri (mag 4.4) NGC 1309 (mag 11.6)
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