Microscopium Constellation: The Ultimate Guide

Microscopium is one of the 88 modern constellations. It does not appear or have associated histories in ancient Western cultures because it was not visible in those regions.

In the case of Greek culture, when Ptolemy wrote the Almagest, he mentioned the area where the constellation Microscopium is currently as the hind legs of Sagittarius.

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

Microcopium was first introduced as an independent constellation by astronomer Lacaille in 1751-1752 under the French name "Le Microscope" (the Microscope).

During his two-year stay at the Cape of Good Hope, he observed and cataloged 10,000 stars in the southern hemisphere. From that set, he formed fourteen new constellations for the unexplored regions of the southern skies, which were not visible from Europe.

All but one honor instrument symbolized the Enlightenment. In 1763, commemorating the compound microscope, Lacaille assigned this constellation its current Latin name, "Microscopium."

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

Currently, Microscopium covers only 210 square degrees of the sky. This places it 66th in size among the 88 curtains in the night sky.

Microscopium resides in the fourth quadrant of the Southern Hemisphere (SQ4) between latitudes 45° 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.

Microscopium is visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, and Antarctica.

Microscopium is not visible in regions above 45°N such as Canada, half of Europe such as the United Kingdom, Austria, or Norway, nor in Rusia, Greenland, and Alaska.

Microscopium is a constellation near the south pole. It is visible almost all year round; however, September is the best month to visualize it.

The constellation Microscopium is visible during autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.

The constellation Microscopium is very faint but lies in the middle of two much brighter constellations, Capricornus and Indius.

The easiest way to locate the constellation Microscopium is by drawing an imaginary straight line from the constellation Capricornus to the constellation of Indius. The constellation Microscopium sits right in the middle of those two.

The constellations bordering Microscopium are Capricornus, Sagittarius, Telescopium (Corner), Indus, Grus and Piscis Austrinus.

Además Microscopium belongs to the family of constellations of Lacaille; these include Antlia, Caelum, Circinus, Fornax, Horologium, Mensa, Norma, Octans, Pictor, Reticulum, Sculptor, and Telescopium.

The Constellation Microscopium officially contains 43 stars, of which 5 form the central figure of the constellation; these are Gamma Microscopii, Epsilon Microscopii, Theta-1 Microscopii, Alpha Microscopii, and Iota Microscopii.

It is the brightest star in the constellation Microscopium, with an apparent magnitude of +4.67. It is 223 light-years from the Solar System.

Gamma Microscopii is a yellow giant of spectral type G4III with a surface temperature of 5100 K. Its luminosity is 64 times greater than that of the Sun, and its radius is 10 times larger than that of the Sun.

With an apparent visual magnitude of +4.71, it is the second brightest star in the constellation Microscopium, located 166 light-years from the solar system.

The star has 2.2 times the mass of the Sun and 2.2 times the radius of the Sun. It is around half a billion years old and rotates rapidly with a projected rotational speed of 127 km/s.

Microscopium 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 Microscopium, because it is a small constellation, it has very few deep-sky objects and only presents one notable galaxy:

It is a spiral galaxy without bars with an apparent magnitude of 11.3. It has the shape of an optical lens since it is almost singing over observers on Earth; it is as if we saw it "from above."

This is the most amazing deep-sky body of the constellation Microscopium; It is 3.7 degrees west-northwest of the star Alpha Microscopii.

It is a vacuum, a rectangular region of space with very little stellar matter bounded by incomplete layers of galaxies from other voids in the celestial southern hemisphere.

It is within the boundaries of the constellation Microscopium. It was discovered and named by South African astronomer Tony Fairall in 1984.

Within the limits of the constellation Microscopium, there is the meteor shower called "Microscopids." This is a shower of minor meteorites that occurs from June to mid-July.

• Microscopium is a constellation located primarily in the southern hemisphere. Its name was given by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. It represented one of several scientific instruments he named the southern constellations.
• The constellation Microscopium is located between latitudes 45° N and 90° S. The best month to observe the constellation is September.
• The easiest way to locate the constellation Microscopium is by tracing an imaginary straight line from the constellation Capricornus to the constellation Indius. The constellation Microscopium sits right in the middle of those two.
• The brightest star in the constellation Microscopium is Gamma Microscopii (γ Mic / HD 199951 / HR 8039), with an apparent magnitude of +4.67.
• The most notable deep-sky body of the constellation Microscopium is Galaxy NGC 6925.

1. https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/microscopium-constellation/
2. http://www.seasky.org/constellations/constellation-microscopium.html
3. https://www.britannica.com/place/Microscopium
4. https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/microscopium-constellation
5. https://www.universeguide.com/constellation/microscopium