The Constellation Sextans


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.
1687 (Hevelius)
0.8% of the sky
313.5 square degrees
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 3375 (mag 13.0) | ||
SS Sex (mag 5.9) | NGC 3365 (mag 13.0) | ||
HD 93655 (mag 5.9) | NGC 3325 (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 3035 (mag 13.5) | ||
HD 90763 (mag 6.0) | IC 624 (mag 13.5) | ||
HD 89033 (mag 6.1) | NGC 3023 (mag 13.5) | ||
HD 87262 (mag 6.1) | NGC 2978 (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) |