Constellation, Mic
Microscopium: the Microscope
Microscopium covers 210 square degrees of sky, the 66th largest of the 88. Its brightest star is star HIP 103738. It is best placed in the evening sky in September.
Show Microscopium in the live sky
Microscopium at a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Mic |
| Meaning | the Microscope |
| Pronounced | my-cruh-SCOPE-ee-um |
| Genitive, used in star names | Microscopii (for example a Bayer name such as α Microscopii) |
| Area | 210 square degrees, number 66 of 88 by size |
| Stars to magnitude 6 in our catalogue | 23 |
| Brightest star | star HIP 103738, magnitude 4.7 |
| Best seen | Evenings in September, when it is highest at 9 pm |
| Declination range | -45° to -28° |
| Borders | Sagittarius, Capricornus, Indus, Piscis Austrinus, Grus, Telescopium |
Where on Earth you can see Microscopium
Microscopium spans declinations -45° to -28°. Every part of it rises above the horizon at some moment for observers between latitudes 90°S and 45°N. Some of it can be seen from latitudes 90°S to 62°N. South of 62°S none of it ever sets. This is geometry only: it ignores haze, hills and buildings near the horizon.
From six cities
| City | Latitude | Visibility | Middle at its highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pune | 18.5°N | All of it rises | 36° |
| New York | 40.7°N | All of it rises | 13° |
| London | 51.5°N | Only part of it rises | 3° |
| Tromsø | 69.6°N | Never rises | below the horizon |
| Tokyo | 35.7°N | All of it rises | 18° |
| Sydney | 33.9°S | All of it rises | 88° |
Microscopium's named stars
None of the stars brighter than magnitude 6 in Microscopium has a name approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names.
How these facts were found
The name, meaning and boundaries are the IAU's. Area, borders and the latitude ranges are computed from those boundaries; the brightest star and the star count come from a magnitude-6 star catalogue; star names are matched to the catalogue by Hipparcos number and checked by position. The month is when Microscopium's middle crosses the north-south line of the sky at 9 pm local solar time. See How we know.
Sources
- IAU: The Constellations. Names, meanings, pronunciations and boundaries
- IAU Working Group on Star Names. The official names of stars
- astronomy-engine. The MIT licensed library that does the calculations, run on the page's build machine and in the app
- HYG database v4.4 (astronexus). Distances, spectral types and luminosities, licence CC BY-SA 4.0