BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Exotic Creatures of the Southern Sky *new*

Constellations telling the ancient tales of gods and heroes are still in use by astronomers. But there are only 48 classical constellations, and the skies around the south celestial pole can't be seen from the Mediterranean, so those constellations are more modern. Here are some of them.

Exotic Creatures of the Southern Sky

Nice article Mona. Thanks for sharing. I'm waiting for mother nature to take her happy pills. I love thunderstorms, but all we've had here is a few storms and a lot of gloom.

There are five constellations of the dozen observed and invented by Plancius et al. that are known collectively as the Southern Birds. These are Apus (bird of paradise), Grus (crane), Pavo (peacock), Tucana (toucan), and Phoenix (a mythical bird).

And you can pursue the avian astronomical theme in Heavenly Aviaries – Bird Constellations.

Cool pictures Mona. This past week hasn't been good for star gazing. It's been stormy, which I love.

47 Tucanae, located in the constellation Tucana (the toucan), is the second largest known globular cluster. A globular cluster is a star cluster that's so massive that gravity pulls it together into a spherical shape. Globular clusters are also very old, usually older than the galaxies of which they're now a part.

This is a gorgeous picture, a digital art work by Felix Cheung depicting the toucan and 47 Tucanae. It's one of a set of screen savers based on the Southern Birds constellations.

Mona, that is stunning! Wow... The things I've been missing in the night sky. Thanks for sharing. Your posts are helping to give me a kick start.

Here's another stunning digital art work based on the southern birds constellations. Felix Cheung has used spiral galaxy IC 4633 in Apus (Bird of paradise) to create this one.

That is gorgeous! Wow! I wish I knew how to do that.

The constellation Dorado represents a dolphinfish, also known as a mahi-mahi. Sailors saw such fish pursuing flying fish in the southern seas. The constellation Volans represents the flying fish.