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> Constellation of Lupus and Norma

Constellation of Lupus and Norma

author: A.Fujii/David Malin Images/Novapix

reference: a-cst49-00002

Image Size 300 DPI: 51 * 40 cm

Lupus, (the Wolf), was regarded by the Greeks and Romans as an unspecified wild animal, which the Centaur is carrying as a sacrifice the the gods. The identification of Lupus as a wolf seems to have been made in relatively recent times. Both Lupus and Norma are in the rich starfields of the southern Milky Way, easily seen between Antares and alpha and beta Centaurii. The brightest object in this image is Jupiter, on the ecliptic at the top of the frame. Norma, (originally Norma et Regula, the builder's level and set square) is an insignificant scattering of stars compared to Lupus and Centaurus. Like the adjacent Circinus (the Drawing Compasses), it was invented by Nicolas de Lacaille, who charted the southern sky from South Africa in 1751-2 and felt obliged to fill vacant spaces in the sky with Enlightenment-inspired instruments of science.

Keywords for this photo:

ANTARES - ASTRONOMY - CENTAURUS - CIRCINUS - COAL SACK - CONSTELLATION - CRUX - JUPITER - LINE - LUPUS - MAP - MILKY WAY - NORMA - OMEGA CENTAURI - PLANET - POSTER - SOUTHERN CROSS - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - STAR -