The Constellation Volans
by Dominic Ford
The constellation Volans.
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Source: Stellarium.
Source: Stellarium.
Volans is a small, faint constellation, visible in the far southern evening sky in the months around January.
The name ‘Volans’ is short for ‘Piscis Volans’, Latin for ‘flying fish’. It represents a real species of fish which can jump out of the water and glide on wings over distances of around 50 metres.
Volans is among the dozen constellations introduced by Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman which celebrate rare or exotic animals, and it first appeared on star maps in 1598.
It does not contain any stars brighter than mag 3.8, and its only deep sky objects are faint galaxies.
Date First Appeared
1598 (Keyser & de Houtman)
1598 (Keyser & de Houtman)
Sky Area
0.3% of the sky
141.4 square degrees
0.3% of the sky
141.4 square degrees
Messier Objects
Volans contains no Messier objects
Volans contains no Messier objects
Caldwell Objects
Volans contains no Caldwell objects
Volans contains no Caldwell objects
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| γ²-Vol (mag 3.8) | NGC 2348 | NGC 2442 (mag 10.4) | |
| β-Vol (mag 3.8) | NGC 2434 (mag 11.3) | ||
| ζ-Vol (mag 4.0) | NGC 2305 (mag 12.8) | ||
| δ-Vol (mag 4.0) | NGC 2307 (mag 13.4) | ||
| α-Vol (mag 4.0) | NGC 2601 (mag 13.4) | ||
| ε-Vol (mag 4.4) | NGC 2466 (mag 13.4) | ||
| HD 70514 (mag 5.1) | IC 2202 (mag 13.6) | ||
| HD 53501 (mag 5.2) | NGC 2788 (mag 14.5) | ||
| θ-Vol (mag 5.2) | NGC 2397 (mag 15.0) | ||
| η-Vol (mag 5.3) | |||
| κ¹-Vol (mag 5.3) | |||
| HD 76143 (mag 5.3) | |||
| γ¹-Vol (mag 5.4) | |||
| ι-Vol (mag 5.4) | |||
| HD 72337 (mag 5.5) | |||
| κ²-Vol (mag 5.6) | |||
| HD 64484 (mag 5.8) | |||
| HD 77887 (mag 5.9) | |||
| HD 71863 (mag 5.9) | |||
| HD 75171 (mag 6.0) | |||
| HD 50002 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HD 76270 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HD 73468 (mag 6.1) | |||
| HD 63584 (mag 6.2) | |||
| HD 75116 (mag 6.3) |