Constellation, Mon
Monoceros: the Unicorn
Monoceros covers 482 square degrees of sky, the 35th largest of the 88. Its brightest star is star HIP 30867. It is best placed in the evening sky in February.
Show Monoceros in the live sky
Monoceros at a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| IAU abbreviation | Mon |
| Meaning | the Unicorn |
| Pronounced | muh-NAH-ser-us |
| Genitive, used in star names | Monocerotis (for example a Bayer name such as α Monocerotis) |
| Area | 482 square degrees, number 35 of 88 by size |
| Stars to magnitude 6 in our catalogue | 71 |
| Brightest star | star HIP 30867, magnitude 3.8 |
| Best seen | Evenings in February, when it is highest at 9 pm |
| Declination range | -11° to 12° |
| Borders | Orion, Canis Minor, Canis Major, Gemini, Hydra, Puppis, Lepus |
Where on Earth you can see Monoceros
Monoceros spans declinations -11° to 12°. Every part of it rises above the horizon at some moment for observers between latitudes 78°S and 79°N. Some of it can be seen from every latitude. 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 | 70° |
| New York | 40.7°N | All of it rises | 47° |
| London | 51.5°N | All of it rises | 37° |
| Tromsø | 69.6°N | All of it rises | 18° |
| Tokyo | 35.7°N | All of it rises | 52° |
| Sydney | 33.9°S | All of it rises | 58° |
Monoceros's named stars
None of the stars brighter than magnitude 6 in Monoceros 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 Monoceros'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