Delphinus the Dolphin
A
small constellation that dates back to the time of ancient Greece.
The dolphin rescued the musician Arion from drowning after he was
robbed and thrown off a ship, as a reward the dolphin was placed in
the sky for ever.
In
legend dolphins were the messengers of the sea god Neptune.
Delphinus
is close to Altair, in summer triangle. Its brightest stars are only
just above mag 4 but it is a small compact little group like a very
loose star cluster. In shape the dolphin bears a vague resemblance to
a tiny dim distorted Plough.
Its
4 main stars form a rectangle called Job’s Coffin the origin of
this name is not known.
Alpha
with a magnitude of 3.9 is 254 light years away and is a B9 class
star.
Beta
is a F5 giant class star and at magnitude 3.8 is slightly brighter
than alpha it is 101 light years distant.
Gamma
with a magnitude of 3.9 is 101 light years away and is a F7 class
star.
Delta
with a magnitude of 4.3 is the faintest of the main stars lying at a
distance of 223 light years and is a K7 class star.
Delphinus
lies in the milky way so a very rich area for star sweeps.
George
Alcock discovered a nova on 8 July 1967 It continued to brighten,
reaching a peak of magnitude 3.5 on 13 December 1967 before fading
quickly to magnitude 5.1, and then varying
between magnitudes 4.4
and 5.7, and reaching magnitude 4.2 in May 1968 before fading
steadily; it was magnitude 9.75 by the end of 1971. In 1968 it was
called HR Delphini.
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