The Constellation Lynx
Lynx is a faint northern constellation which encompasses a large but dark area of sky between Ursa Major and Auriga. It is highest in the midnight sky in the months around January, but has only one star brighter than third magnitude.
Lying away from the plane of the Milky Way, it also lacks any bright deep sky offerings.
Its creator, the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, prided himself on his acute vision. The French astronomer Pierre Gassendi once wrote that perhaps Hevelius had introduced the constellation to demonstrate that he had the ‘eyes of a lynx’.
1687 (Hevelius)
1.3% of the sky
545.4 square degrees
Lynx contains no Messier objects
The following constellations neighbor Lynx: Auriga, Camelopardalis, Cancer, Gemini, Leo, Leo Minor, Ursa Major.
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 |
| α-Lyn (mag 3.1) | NGC 2666 | NGC 2419 (mag 10.4) | NGC 2683 (mag 9.7) |
| 38-Lyn (mag 3.9) | NGC 2549 (mag 11.1) | ||
| 10-UMa (mag 4.0) | NGC 2500 (mag 11.7) | ||
| 31-Lyn (mag 4.2) | NGC 2776 (mag 11.7) | ||
| 15-Lyn (mag 4.4) | NGC 2537 (mag 11.7) | ||
| UZ Lyn (mag 4.5) | NGC 2541 (mag 11.7) | ||
| HIP 44700 (mag 4.5) | NGC 2782 (mag 11.7) | ||
| 21-Lyn (mag 4.6) | NGC 2340 (mag 11.7) | ||
| 27-Lyn (mag 4.8) | NGC 2832 (mag 11.8) | ||
| HIP 47029 (mag 4.8) | NGC 2320 (mag 11.9) | ||
| 16-Lyn (mag 4.9) | NGC 2493 (mag 12.1) | ||
| 24-Lyn (mag 5.0) | NGC 2344 (mag 12.1) | ||
| HIP 35384 (mag 5.0) | NGC 2712 (mag 12.2) | ||
| UW Lyn (mag 5.0) | NGC 2770 (mag 12.2) | ||
| 35-Lyn (mag 5.2) | NGC 2552 (mag 12.2) | ||
| HIP 37946 (mag 5.2) | NGC 2415 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 18-Lyn (mag 5.2) | NGC 2543 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 5-Lyn (mag 5.2) | NGC 2798 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 42-Lyn (mag 5.3) | NGC 2778 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 36-Lyn (mag 5.3) | NGC 2488 (mag 12.4) | ||
| HIP 37701 (mag 5.3) | IC 2166 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 13-Lyn (mag 5.3) | NGC 2273 (mag 12.5) | ||
| 34-Lyn (mag 5.4) | NGC 2329 (mag 12.5) | ||
| 22-Lyn (mag 5.4) | NGC 2337 (mag 12.5) | ||
| 14-Lyn (mag 5.4) | IC 2233 (mag 12.6) | ||
| HIP 32438 (mag 5.4) | NGC 2476 (mag 12.6) | ||
| 26-Lyn (mag 5.5) | NGC 2424 (mag 12.6) | ||
| HIP 41152 (mag 5.5) | NGC 2532 (mag 12.7) | ||
| UY Lyn (mag 5.5) | NGC 2524 (mag 12.7) | ||
| HIP 35136 (mag 5.6) | NGC 2844 (mag 12.9) |
