Corvus Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

In Chinese astronomy, the stars of the constellation Corvus are found within the Southern Vermilion Bird (Nán Fāng Zhū Què).

The four brightest stars represent a chariot called "Zhen." The Alpha and Eta stars mark the axles of the carriage's wheels, and the Zeta star is a coffin.

In Greek mythology, the constellation Corvus is associated with the story of a crow who was a servant of Apollo. One day Apollo sent him with a cup (constellation of the Cup) to bring him water, but the crow was slow to return because he was waiting for a fig to ripen near the spring.

The crow brought the cup and a water snake between his claws and told Apollo that he had been delayed because the snake had attacked him. Apollo, knowing that the crow was lying, but the three in the sky condemned the crow always to be thirsty, for, although the cup is near, the serpent (constellation of the Hydra), does not allow him to drink.

German cartographer Johann Bayer used the Greek letters Alpha to Eta to label the most prominent stars in Corvus's constellation in the twentieth century. John Flamsteed subsequently assigned nine stars to Flamsteed's designations.

One of the stars he had designated in the neighboring constellation Crater (31 Crateris) lay within Corvus, and so it remained when the boundaries of the constellation were established in 1930.

Currently, the constellation Corvus remains the 70th smallest constellation of the existing 88, occupying an area of 184 square degrees in the night sky.

Corvus is also a region full of deep space bodies of paramount importance to modern science and astronomy in scientific research.

Corvus resides in the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ3) at latitudes between 60° 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.

Corvus's constellation is visible in America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

Corvus is not visible in areas above 60° N latitude, such as Northern Canada, northern Greenland, northern Sweden, Norway, and Finland, nor Siberia or Alaska.

Corvus is a constellation located in the southern celestial hemisphere, and May is the best month to visualize it.

Corvus's constellation is visible only in late spring and early summer in the northern hemisphere.

Corvus is in the southern hemisphere, so you will have to direct your gaze to the south if you are in the northern hemisphere.

To find Corvus, you can look for the constellation Crater to find Corvus since both constellations are very close.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Corvus is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the constellation of Virgo to the constellation Vela; in the middle of the road between the two, you will find the constellation Corvus.

The constellations bordering Corvus are Virgo, Crater, and Hydra.

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

The constellation Corvus officially contains 29 stars, of which 5 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Gienah, Kraz, Algorab, Minkar, and Alchiba.

It is the brightest star in Corvus's constellation with an apparent magnitude of +2.58. Its name comes from the Arabic "al-janāħ al-ghirāb al-yaman" and means "the right-wing of the crow."

Located 165 light-years from the Solar System, Gienah Gurab is a bluish-white giant of spectral type B8III and 12,400 K of temperature. With a luminosity 355 times greater than that of the Sun.

Located at 140 light-years and with an apparent magnitude of +2.65, Kraz is the second brightest star in Corvus's constellation.

It is a yellow luminous giant star of spectral type G5II located 140 light-years from the Solar System and has a surface temperature of 5100 ± 80 K.

With an apparent magnitude of +2.94, Algorab is the third brightest star in the constellation Corvus.

Located at 87 light-years, Algorab is a white star of spectral type A0V and 10,000 K of effective temperature. It shines with a luminosity equivalent to that of 48 suns.

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

In the case of Corvus, it is rich in galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, being one of the constellations with the most incredible diversity of deep-sky bodies.

It is a barred spiral galaxy (SBd) located in Corvus's constellation. It is the most notable deep-sky object in Corvus's constellation, with an apparent magnitude of +11.0.

• NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are two interacting galaxies known as Antennae Galaxies and are to the west of the constellation, 4º southeast of Gienah Gurab (γ Corvi).
• NGC 4361: It is a planetary nebula of a slight bluish color.

• Corvus is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. The constellation's name comes from Latin and means "The Raven."
• Corvus's constellation is associated with a story from Greek mythology about a crow that tried to deceive the god, Apollo.
• The best month to see the Corvus constellation is in May, between the latitudes of 60° N and 90° S.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Corvus is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the constellation of Virgo to the constellation Vela; in the middle of the road between the two, you will find the constellation Corvus.
• The brightest star in the constellation Corvus is Gienah Gurab (γ Corvi/γ Cor /4 Corvi) with an apparent magnitude of +2.58.
• Corvus's most notable deep sky body is the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4027.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/corvus-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-corvus.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Corvus-constellation
4. https://www.universetoday.com/20527/corvus/