Corona Australis Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

In Greek culture, the constellation represents the laurel wreath that belonged to Chiron, the centaur.

In the third century BCC, the Greek writer Aratus wrote about the constellation but did not give it a name, but instead called it the two crowns Στεφάνοι (Stephanoi).

Later the Greek astronomer Ptolemy described the constellation in century II b.C. However, in his description, he included the star α Telescopii. Later this star would be transferred to the constellation Telescopium.

Assigning 13 stars to the constellation, Ptolemy named it (Stephanos notios), which means "Crown of the South."

The Romans were the first to call it "Corona Australis," the "Golden Crown of Sagittarius." It was located in the southernmost part of the sky and very close to the constellation Sagittarius.

During the eighteenth century, the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande gave the constellation Sertum Australe ("Garland of the South") and Orbiculus Capitis.

On the other hand, the German poet and author Philippus Caesius called it Corolla ("Little Crown") or Spira Australis ("Southern Spiral"). They linked it to the Crown of Eternal Life of the New Testament.

The constellation's name was "Corona Australis" when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) established the 88 modern constellations in 1922.

In 1932, the name was registered as "Crown Austrina" when the notation commission approved a list of four-letter abbreviations for constellations. The IAU exclusively uses "Corona Australis" to refer to this constellation.

Corona Australis resides in the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ3) between latitudes 40° N and 90° S, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky from all countries of the southern hemisphere of the earth, and some countries of the northern hemisphere.

Corona Australis is visible in America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, and Antarctica.

Corona Australis is not visible in regions above 40° N such as Canada, half of Europe such as the United Kingdom, Austria or Norway, Russia, Greenland, and Alaska.

Corona Australis is very close to the south, which means that for observers of the southern hemisphere. Still, the best month to observe it is in August.

In the northern hemisphere, the Corona Australis is visible during the summer. The best date to see it in the southern hemisphere is during the winter.

Corona Australis's constellation is very faint, but it is very close to bright stars that are easier to find.

The easiest way to locate the Corona Australis constellation is first to locate the star Kaus Australis, then draw a straight line towards the stars that form the "Legs" of the Sagittarius constellation until we meet the Corona Australis constellation.

The constellations bordering Corona Australis are Sagittarius, Scorpius, Ara, and Telescopium.

In addition, Corona Australis belongs to the family of constellations Hercules; these include Aquila, Ara, Centaurus, Corvus, Crater, Crux, Cygnus, Hercules, Hydra, Lupus, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Sagitta, Scutum, Sextans, Serpens, Triangulum Australe, and Vulpecula.

The constellation Corona Australis officially contains 46 stars, of which 6 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Alfecca Meridiana, Beta Coronae Australis, Gamma Coronae Australis, Delta Coronae Australis, Zeta Coronae Australis, and Theta Coronae Australis.

It is the brightest star in Corona Australis's constellation, with an apparent magnitude of +4.10. It is in the middle of its life with an approximate mass of 2.3 solar masses as a main-sequence star.

Alfecca Meridiana is a white main-sequence star of spectral type A2V located 130 light-years from the Solar System. With a surface temperature of 9100 K, its luminosity is 31 times greater than that of the Sun.

With an apparent magnitude of +4.12, Beta Coronae Australis is the second brightest star in the constellation Corona Australis.

It is an orange giant of spectral type K0II located approximately 510 light-years from the Solar System. With a surface temperature of 4570 K, its luminosity is 730 times that of the Sun.

Corona Australis is also home to a couple of deep-sky objects. Deep-sky objects often mean star clusters, nebulae (interstellar cloud bodies), or galaxies.

In the case of Corona Australis, because it is a small constellation, it only has star clusters and nebulae; some of these are:

It is the most notable and essential deep-sky object in the constellation Corona Australis since it is classified as a "breeding ground of stars," an area where stars are constantly born.

Consisting of a region composed of a dark molecular cloud with many reflection nebulae embedded within it, it is also a region of star formation of around 7 billion solar masses containing Herbig-Haro objects and some very young stars.

This star-forming region is about 430 light-years (130 parsecs) away; it is one of the closest star-forming regions to the Solar System.

It is a reflection/emission stellar nebula within the Corona Australis molecular cloud that shows irregular variations in brightness and shape.

This fan-shaped nebula opens from the star R Coronae Australis to the star T CrA to the southeast.

Within the limits of the constellation, Corona Australis occurs the meteor shower called Corona Australids, which takes place between March 14 and 18 of each year, reaching its point of maximum exposure around March 16.

• Corona Australis is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. Its name comes from Latin and means "crown of the south."
• This is one of the 48 constellations named in the Almagest, a catalog of stars written by the astronomer Ptolemy during the second century.
• Corona Australis's constellation is located between 40° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in August.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Corona Australis is to first locate the star Kaus Australis in the constellation of Sagittarius; once we find it, we only have to draw a straight line toward the stars that form the "Legs" of the constellation Sagittarius until we meet the constellation Corona Australis.
• The brightest star in the Corona Australis constellation is Alfecca Meridiana (α Coronae Australis / α CrA / HD 178253), with an apparent magnitude of +4.10.
• The most notable deep sky body of the constellation Corona Australis is the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud.
• Circinus' most notable shower of stars is the Corona Australids between March 14 and 18.

1. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-corona-australis.html
2. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/corona-australis-constellation/
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Corona-Australis
4. https://nineplanets.org/corona-australis/