Dorado Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Dorado is classified as one of the 88 modern constellations. It has no associated history in ancient Western cultures because it was not visible in those regions.

In the case of Greek culture, when Ptolemy wrote the Almagest, there was no mention at any time of the constellation Golden nor does it appear on the celestial maps of the time

It is known that Dorado is one of the faintest constellations and that most of its stars cannot be seen with the naked eye, so it was necessary to wait for telescopes to be invented to see it.

Dorado was one of twelve constellations named by cartographer Petrus Plancius from observations made by navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman in 1592.

First, the constellation appears publicly on a celestial globe 35 centimeters (14 inches), published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius.

Later in 1603, the cartographer Johann Bayer would name the constellation Dorado. This name would be official in the rest of the world.

In 1922 the International Astronomical Association added the constellation Dorado to the 88 official night sky constellations. Since then, it has not undergone significant changes in its boundaries or name.

Dorado currently covers an area of 179 square degrees and ranks 72nd in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky.

Dorado resides in the first quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ1) between latitudes 20° N and 90° S. We can see the night sky's constellations from all countries in the southern earth and some countries of the northern hemisphere.

The constellation Dorado is visible in South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Dorado is not visible in regions above 20° N such as the USA, Canada, most of Europe such as Italy, France or Germany, Russia, Greenland, Japan, and Alaska.

The best month to visualize the Dorado constellation is in January, which is visible during the winter in the northern hemisphere and the summer in the southern hemisphere.

The constellation Dorado has no stars of the first or second magnitude; it is very faint. However, it is very close to Canopus's star, the second brightest in the sky.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Dorado is to locate the star Canopus in the constellation Carina.

Then we draw an imaginary straight line from Canopus to the star Achernar. The constellation Dorado is located right in the middle of the two.

The constellations bordering Dorado are Caelum, Horologium, Reticulum, Hydrus, Mensa, Volans, and Pictor.

Dorado also belongs to the family of Johann Bayer's constellations; these include Apus, Chamaeleon, Grus, Hydrus, Indus, Musca, Pavo, Phoenix, Tucana, and Volans.

The Dorado constellation officially contains 29 stars. Ten forms the central figure of the constellation; these are Alpha Doradus, Beta Doradus, Gamma Doradus, Delta Doradus, and Zeta Doradus.

It is the brightest star in the southern constellation Dorado, with an apparent magnitude of +3.30. It is 175 light-years away from the Solar System.

It is a binary star consisting of Alpha Doradus A and Alpha Doradus B components.

Alpha Doradus A is a white giant of spectral type A0IIIs with a luminosity equivalent to 157 suns. It has a radius 2.8 times larger than the Sun and a mass three times greater than the solar mass.

Alpha Doradus B is a subgiant star of spectral type B9 whose radius is 90% larger than the solar radius.

Beta Doradus is the second brightest star in the constellation Dorado. It is a Cepheid variable whose brightness varies between magnitude +3.46 and +4.08 in 9.8426 days.

It is a yellow supergiant whose spectral type changes from F6 to G5 with the subsequent temperature change. Its average effective temperature is about 6000 K.

Dorado is also home to several deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean star clusters, nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies), or galaxies.

The case of Dorado has a variety of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies; some of them are:

It is a dwarf galaxy, a satellite of the Milky Way, a member of the Local Group, and the most notable deep sky object of the constellation Dorado.

This galaxy contains about 30 billion stars and has a diameter of about 35,000 light-years. Its mass is about 30 billion times the mass of the sun and one-tenth the mass of the Milky Way.

The Great Cloud is rich in gas and dust and is currently going through an excellent activity phase in star formation.

It has been found about 60 globular clusters, 400 planetary nebulae, 700 open clusters, and hundreds of thousands of giant and supergiant stars.

• NGC 1818: In a very young globular cluster part of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
• NGC 1850: It is an atypical open cluster in the neighboring galaxy. A detailed investigation reveals the existence of two clusters: the main one, with an age of 40-50 million years, and a more minor and younger one formed by stars of just four million years.
• NGC 1901, NGC 1910, and NGC 1978 are open clusters.

• NGC 2070 / 30 Doradus: The Tarantula Nebula, with a magnitude of +8.
• NGC 2080: Star-forming region also in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
• NGC 1748: Another region of stellar formation.
• NGC 2032: Also called the Gull Nebula, it is a complex of nebulae containing NGC 2029, NGC 2032, NGC 2035, and NGC 2040, with NGC 2035  being the brightest of all.
• N44C: Emission nebula whose main star is scorching.
• DEM L 106: It is a reflection nebula.

Dorado is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. Its name comes from the goldfish dolphin or mahi-mahi, an edible fish native to America.

Dorado is one of the 88 modern constellations, so its name is not derived from a myth, history, or ancient legend like the most famous constellations.

The constellation Dorado is located between 20° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in January.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Dorado is to locate the star Canopus in the constellation Carina. Then we draw an imaginary straight line from Canopus to the star Achernar. The constellation Dorado is located right in the middle of the two.

The brightest star in the Constellation Dorado is Alpha Doradus (α Dor / HD 29305 / HR 1465), with an apparent magnitude of +3.30.

The most notable deep body of the constellation Dorado is the Large Magellanic Cloud.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/dorado-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-dorado.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Dorado-constellation
4. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/dorado