Musca Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Musca 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.

The only record of its sighting by an ancient civilization was from the Wardaman people of the Northern Territory in Australia, perceiving Musca's main stars as a ceremonial boomerang.

Musca is one of the faintest constellations, and most of its stars cannot be seen with the naked eye by northern observers, so it was necessary to wait for explorations to the southern hemisphere to be able to record its stars and boundaries.

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

The constellation Musca appears publicly for the first time on a celestial globe 35 centimeters in diameter (14 inches) published in 1597 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius.

Later in 1776, the French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille would name the constellation Musca Australis and later only Musca.

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

Currently, the constellation Musca covers an area of only 138 square degrees. This places it 77th in size among the 88 constellations in the night sky, making it one of the most minor.

Musca resides in the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ3) between latitudes 10° N and 90° S, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky from all countries. The southern hemisphere of the earth and some countries of the northern hemisphere.

The constellation Musca is visible in the Americas, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Musca is not visible in regions above 10°N such as the USA, Canada, Europe, Russia, Greenland, Japan, Mexico, and Alaska.

The best month to visualize the constellation Musca is May, visible during spring in the northern hemisphere. While in the southern hemisphere, it is visible during autumn and winter.

The constellation Musca is tiny but has second magnitude stars and is very close to the constellation Crux.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Musca is to locate the constellation Crux; from that constellation, we draw an imaginary straight line towards the south celestial pole, and right in the middle of the road, we will find the constellation Musca.

The constellations bordering Musca are Apus, Carina, Centaurus, Chamaeleon, Circinus, and Crux.

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

The constellation Musca officially contains 62 stars, of which 6 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Alpha Muscae, Beta Muscae, Delta Muscae, Lambda Muscae, Gamma Muscae, and Epsilon Muscae.

With an apparent magnitude of +2.69, Alpha Muscae is the brightest star in the constellation Musca; it is 306 light-years from Earth.

It is a bluish-white star of spectral type B2IV-V, classified as a subgiant or main-sequence star. Hot star of 21,900 K temperature, its luminosity, considering the non-visible ultraviolet radiation emitted, is 4250 times greater than the Sun. Its radius is 4.7 solar radii, and its mass is 8 solar masses.

It is the second brightest star in the constellation Musca with an apparent magnitude of +2.91; it is 341 light-years away from the Solar System.

It is a binary star conformed by Beta Muscae A and Beta Muscae B

The main component, Beta Muscae A, has spectral type B2V and is a hot star of 22,500 K effective temperature. Its luminosity is 2750 times higher than that of the Sun and has a mass of 8 solar masses.

Beta Muscae B is the secondary star. It has spectral type B3V and a temperature of 18,500 K. 1200 times more luminous than the Sun, has a mass of 6 solar masses, and is the same size as its companion.

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

In the case of Musca, it has few deep-sky objects; it contains mainly nebulae and globular cumulus. Some of the most notable are:

It is a planetary nebula in the constellation Musca, about 3000 light-years from Earth. It features red colors with greens similar to silk fabric. This is the most notable deep-sky object in the constellation Musca.

It is a relatively young planetary nebula in the constellation Musca, located at a distance of at least 8000 light-years from Earth.

It is thought that the peculiar shape of the Hourglass Nebula is due to the very rapid expansion of stellar wind over a slower-expanding cloud that is denser near its equator than its poles.

• Musca is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. Its name comes from Latin and means "Mosca."
• Musca 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 Musca lies between latitudes 10° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in May.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Musca is to locate the constellation Crux; from that constellation, we draw an imaginary straight line towards the south celestial pole, and right in the middle of the road, we will find the constellation Musca.
• The brightest twin in the Golden constellation is Alpha Muscae (α Mus/HD 109668/HR 4798), with an apparent magnitude of +2.69.
• The most notable deep sky body in the constellation Musca is the Planetary Nebula NGC 5189.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/musca-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-musca.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Musca-constellation
4. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/musca
5. https://theplanets.org/constellations/musca-constellation/