Fornax
Sign in to saveFornax () is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Fornax is one of the 88 modern constellations.
AI overview
Fornax is a constellation visible in the southern sky, whose name means "furnace" in Latin and was designated by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. It is one of the 88 officially recognized constellations in modern astronomy.
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Key facts
- Constellation.name
- Fornax
- Constellation.abbreviation
- For
- Constellation.genitive
- Fornacis
- Constellation.pronounce
- , genitive
- Constellation.symbolism
- the brazier
- Constellation.family
- La Caille
- Constellation.quadrant
- SQ1
- Constellation.areatotal
- 398
- Constellation.arearank
- 41st
- Constellation.numbermainstars
- 2
- Constellation.numberbfstars
- 27
- Constellation.numberbrightstars
- 0
- Constellation.numbernearbystars
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History
- Characteristics
- Features
- Stars
- Deep-sky objects
- Equivalents
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Cited texts
- External links
Fornax () is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Fornax is one of the 88 modern constellations.
The three brightest stars—Alpha, Beta and Nu Fornacis—form a flattened triangle facing south. With an apparent magnitude of 3.91, Alpha Fornacis is the brightest star in Fornax. Six star systems have been found to have exoplanets. The Fornax Dwarf galaxy is a small faint satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. NGC 1316 is a relatively close radio galaxy.