Apus Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Apus is classified as one of the modern constellations. It does not appear or has no associated history in ancient Western cultures because it was not visible in those regions or was too faint to be seen before telescopes were invented.

Apus first appeared on a celestial globe 35 cm (14 inches) in diameter, published in 1598 in Amsterdam by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius.

Later the explorer and navigator Frederick De Houtman included it in his catalog of southern stars in 1603 under the Dutch name "De Paradijs Voghel", which means "The bird of paradise" due to its resemblance to this animal from the region of Greece.

In 1952 the constellation Apus lost part of its tail when astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille used those stars to establish the new constellation octane. Because of this change, Apus became an even more minor constellation than it was.

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

Currently, Apus covers an area of 206.3 square degrees and, therefore, 0.5002% of the night sky, occupying 67th place among the 88 modern constellations that exist.

Apus resides in the third quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ3) between latitudes 5° N and 90° S, which means that we can see the constellation in the night sky only from the southern hemisphere.

Apus is visible in South America, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Apus is not visible in regions above 5°N such as the USA, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Russia, Greenland, or Japan.

Apus is a constellation very close to the south pole. It is visible all year round; however, July is the best month to visualize it.

The constellation Apus is not visible in the northern hemisphere, while it is visible during autumn and winter in the southern hemisphere.

Apus is essentially located near the south pole and is not visible from the northern hemisphere, so people living in the northern hemisphere will not be able to locate this constellation in the sky.

The constellation Apus is very dim, so you can lean on the constellation Triangulum Australe to locate it since both constellations are very close to each other.

The easiest way to locate the Apus constellation is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the fourth brightest star in the sky, Alpha Centauri, towards the constellation Octans. Apus is located halfway between the two.

The constellations bordering Apus are Ara, Chamaeleon, Circinus, Musca, Octans, Pavo, and Triangulum Australe.

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

The constellation Apus officially contains 39 stars, of which 5 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Alpha Apodis, Gamma Apodis, Beta Apodis, Delta-1 Apodis, and Delta-2 Apodis.

α Apodis, the brightest star in the constellation Apus with a visual magnitude of +3.83. It is 411 light-years away and consists of an orange giant whose luminosity is equivalent to 750 suns. Its radius is about 49 times larger than the solar radius.

It is the second brightest star in the constellation with a magnitude of +3.89, a yellow-orange giant 160 light-years away.

It consists of an orange giant star with a visual magnitude of +4.23, the third brightest star in Apus.

Interferometry measurements of planetary transits suggest that this star has a possible companion of magnitude 12.

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

In the case of Apus, because it is a small constellation, it only has star clusters; some of them are:

• NGC 6101: is a faint globular cluster north of the star γ Apodis and the most notable in the constellation Apus.
• IGC 4499: Globular cluster 55,000 luz years away from very difficult to observe. In addition, Apus is around 13 billion years old and contains a high concentration of massive bright stars known as blue lags, which are thought to be the result of the merger of two stars.

• Apus is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. This constellation is associated with the "Bird of Paradise" figure.
• The name of the constellation Apus comes from Latin and means "without feet" because, in ancient Greece, it was thought that the bird of paradise had no legs.
• The constellation Antlia is located between latitudes 5° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is in July.
• The easiest way to locate the Apus constellation is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the fourth brightest star in Alpha Centauri's sky to the constellation Octans; Apus is located halfway between the two.
• The brightest star in the constellation Apus is α Apodis, with an apparent magnitude of +3.83.
• The most notable deep sky body in the constellation Apus is the star cluster NGC 6101.

1. https://www.constellati on-guide.com/constellation-list/apus-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-apus.html
3. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/apus
4. https://nineplanets.org/apus-constellation/