The Constellation Sextans
by Dominic Ford
The constellation Sextans.
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Source: Stellarium.
Source: Stellarium.
Sextans is a faint equatorial constellation which appears highest in the evening sky in the months around February.
It was introduced by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687, covering a dark patch of sky immediately south of Leo, and represents a sextant, an instrument used to measure the positions of stars. Specifically, it represents Hevelius's own sextant, which was destroyed by a fire at his observatory in Danzig in 1679.
Its brightest star is of magnitude 4.5, and it contains no bright deep sky objects.
Date First Appeared
1687 (Hevelius)
1687 (Hevelius)
Sky Area
0.8% of the sky
313.5 square degrees
0.8% of the sky
313.5 square degrees
Messier Objects
Sextans contains no Messier objects
Sextans contains no Messier objects
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| α-Sex (mag 4.5) | NGC 3115 (mag 9.1) | ||
| β-Sex (mag 5.1) | NGC 3166 (mag 10.6) | ||
| γ-Sex (mag 5.1) | NGC 2974 (mag 10.8) | ||
| δ-Sex (mag 5.2) | NGC 3423 (mag 11.2) | ||
| ε-Sex (mag 5.2) | NGC 2967 (mag 11.6) | ||
| HD 90362 (mag 5.6) | NGC 3044 (mag 12.0) | ||
| 18-Sex (mag 5.6) | NGC 3055 (mag 12.1) | ||
| HD 84607 (mag 5.6) | NGC 3169 (mag 12.4) | ||
| 19-Sex (mag 5.8) | NGC 2990 (mag 12.8) | ||
| 41-Sex (mag 5.8) | NGC 3156 (mag 12.8) | ||
| HD 93833 (mag 5.8) | IC 651 (mag 12.9) | ||
| 17-Sex (mag 5.9) | NGC 3325 (mag 13.0) | ||
| SS Sex (mag 5.9) | NGC 3365 (mag 13.0) | ||
| HD 93655 (mag 5.9) | NGC 3375 (mag 13.0) | ||
| HD 85709 (mag 5.9) | NGC 3340 (mag 13.2) | ||
| HD 94014 (mag 6.0) | NGC 3321 (mag 13.3) | ||
| 7-Sex (mag 6.0) | NGC 3110 (mag 13.4) | ||
| 6-Sex (mag 6.0) | NGC 2978 (mag 13.5) | ||
| HD 90763 (mag 6.0) | NGC 3023 (mag 13.5) | ||
| HD 89033 (mag 6.1) | NGC 3035 (mag 13.5) | ||
| HD 87262 (mag 6.1) | IC 624 (mag 13.5) | ||
| 14-Sex (mag 6.2) | IC 630 (mag 13.5) | ||
| HD 88372 (mag 6.2) | NGC 2980 (mag 13.6) | ||
| 4-Sex (mag 6.2) | NGC 3029 (mag 13.7) | ||
| 33-Sex (mag 6.3) | NGC 3385 (mag 13.7) |