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Microscopium
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Microscopium

Constellation

List of stars in Microscopium

Abbreviation Mic

Genitive Microscopii

Pronunciation /ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiəm/,

genitive /ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiaɪ/

Symbolism the Microscope

Right ascension 21h

Declination −36°
 Quadrant SQ4

Area 210 sq. deg. (66th)

Main stars 5

Bayer/Flamsteed 13

stars

Stars with planets 2

Stars brighter than 3.00m 0

Stars within 10.00 pc 2

(32.62 ly)

Brightest star γ Mic (4.67m)

Messier objects none

Meteor showers Microscopids

 Capricornus
Bordering
 Sagittarius
constellations
 Telescopium (corner)

 Indus

 Grus

 Piscis Austrinus

Visible at latitudes between +45° and −90°.

Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of September.

Microscopium /ˌmaɪkrəˈskɒpiəm/ is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one

of twelve created in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of
several depicting scientific instruments. Its name is a Latinised form of the Greek word
for microscope. Its stars are faint and hardly visible from most of the non-tropical Northern
Hemisphere.
The constellation's brightest star is Gamma Microscopii of apparent magnitude 4.68, a yellow giant
2.5 times the Sun's mass located 223 ± 8 light-years distant. It passed within 1.14 and 3.45 light-
years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago, possibly disturbing the outer Solar System. Two star
systems—WASP-7 and HD 205739—have planets, while two others—the young red dwarf star AU
Microscopiiand the sunlike HD 202628—have debris disks. AU Microscopii and the binary red dwarf
system AT Microscopii are probably a wide triple system and members of the Beta Pictoris moving
group. Nicknamed "Speedy Mic", BO Microscopii is a star with an extremely fast rotation period of
9 hours, 7 minutes.

Contents

 1Characteristics
 2Features
o 2.1Stars
o 2.2Deep sky objects
o 2.3Meteor showers
 3History
 4Notes
 5References
o 5.1Citations
o 5.2Cited texts

Characteristics[edit]
Microscopium is a small constellation bordered by Capricornus to the north, Piscis
Austrinus and Grusto the west, Sagittarius to the east, and Indus to the south, touching
on Telescopium to the southeast. The recommended three-letter abbreviation for the constellation,
as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is 'Mic'.[1] The official constellation
boundaries, as set by Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of four segments
(illustrated in infobox). In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these
borders lie between 20h 27.3m and 21h 28.4m, while the declination coordinates are between −27.45°
and −45.09°.[2] The whole constellation is visible to observers south of latitude 45°N.[3][a] Given that its
brightest stars are of fifth magnitude, the constellation is invisible to the naked eye in areas
with polluted skies.[4][b]

Features[edit]
The constellation Microscopium as it can be seen by the naked eye.
Stars[edit]
See also: List of stars in Microscopium
French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille charted and designated ten stars with the Bayer
designations Alpha through to Iota in 1756. A star in neighbouring Indus that Lacaille had labelled
Nu Indi turned out to be in Microscopium, so Gould renamed it Nu Microscopii. Francis
Baily considered Gamma and Epsilon Microscopii to belong to the neighbouring constellation Piscis
Austrinus, but subsequent cartographers did not follow this.[6] In his 1725 Catalogus Britannicus,
John Flamsteed labelled the stars 1, 2, 3 and 4 Piscis Austrini, which became Gamma
Microscopii, HR 8076, HR 8110 and Epsilon Microscopii respectively.[7] Within the constellation's
borders, there are 43 stars brighter than or equal to apparent magnitude 6.5.[c][3]
Depicting the eyepiece of the microscope is Gamma Microscopii,[8] which—at magnitude of 4.68—is
the brightest star in the constellation. Having spent much of its 620-million-year lifespan as a blue-
white main sequence star, it has swollen and cooled to become a yellow giant of spectral type G6III,
with a diameter ten times that of the Sun.[9] Measurement of its parallax yields a distance of 223 ± 8
light years from Earth.[10] At around 2.5 times the mass of the Sun, it likely passed within 1.14 and
3.45 light-years of the Sun some 3.9 million years ago, possibly massive enough and close enough
to disturb the Oort cloud.[11]Alpha Microscopii is also an ageing yellow giant star of spectral type G7III
with an apparent magnitude of 4.90.[12] Located 400 ± 30 light-years away from Earth,[13] it has
swollen to 17.5 times the diameter of the Sun.[14] Alpha has a 10th magnitude companion, visible in
7.5 cm telescopes,[15][16] though this is a coincidental closeness rather than a true binary
system.[14] Epsilon Microscopii lies 166 ± 5 light-years away,[17] and is a white star of apparent
magnitude 4.7,[16] and spectral type A1V.[18] Theta1and Theta2 Microscopii make up a wide double
whose components are splittable to the naked eye. Both are white A-class magnetic spectrum
variable stars with strong metallic lines, similar to Cor Caroli. They mark the constellation's specimen
slide.[8]
Many notable objects are too faint to be seen with the naked eye. AX Microscopii, better known
as Lacaille 8760, is a red dwarf which lies only 12.9 light-years from the Solar System. At magnitude
6.68, it is the brightest red dwarf in the sky.[19] BO Microscopii is a rapidly rotating star that has 80%
the diameter of the Sun. Nicknamed "Speedy Mic", it has a rotation period of 9 hours
7 minutes.[20] An active star, it has prominent stellar flaresthat average 100 times stronger than those
of the Sun, and are emitting energy mainly in the X-ray and ultraviolet bands of the spectrum.[21] It
lies 218 ± 4 light-years away from the Sun.[22] AT Microscopii is a binary star system, both members
of which are flare star red dwarfs. The system lies close to and may form a very wide triple system
with AU Microscopii,[23] a young star which appears to be a planetary system in the making with
a debris disk. The three stars are candidate members of the Beta Pictoris moving group, one of the
nearest associations of stars that share a common motion through space.[24]
The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa in 2003 reported that observations of four of the Mira
variables in Microscopium were very urgently needed as data on their light curves was
incomplete.[25] Two of them—R and S Microscopii—are challenging stars for novice amateur
astronomers,[26] and the other two, U and RY Microscopii, are more difficult still.[25] Another red
giant, T Microscopii, is a semiregular variable that ranges between magnitudes 7.7 and 9.6 over 344
days.[27] Of apparent magnitude 11, DD Microscopii is a symbiotic star system composed of an
orange giant of spectral type K2III and white dwarf in close orbit, with the smaller star ionizing the
stellar wind of the larger star. The system has a low metallicity. Combined with its high galactic
latitude, this indicates that the star system has its origin in the galactic halo of the Milky Way.[28]
HD 205739 is a yellow-white main sequence star of spectral type F7V that is around 1.22 times as
massive and 2.3 times as luminous as the Sun. It has a Jupiter-sized planet with an orbital period of
280 days that was discovered by the radial velocity method.[29] WASP-7 is a star of spectral type F5V
with an apparent magnitude of 9.54, about 1.28 times as massive as the Sun. Its hot Jupiter planet—
WASP-7b—was discovered by transit method and found to orbit the star every 4.95 days.[30] HD
202628 is a sunlike star of spectral type G2V with a debris disk that ranges from 158 to 220 AU
distant. Its inner edge is sharply defined, indicating a probable planet orbiting between 86 and
158 AU from the star.[31]
Deep sky objects[edit]
Describing Microscopium as "totally unremarkable", astronomer Patrick Moore concluded there was
nothing of interest for amateur observers.[32]NGC 6925 is a barred spiral galaxy of apparent
magnitude 11.3 which is lens-shaped, as it lies almost edge-on to observers on Earth, 3.7 degrees
west-northwest of Alpha Microscopii.[33] SN 2011ei, a Type II Supernova in NGC 6925, was
discovered by Stu Parker in New Zealand in July 2011.[34] NGC 6923 lies nearby and is a magnitude
fainter still.[35] The Microscopium Void is a roughly rectangular region of relatively empty space,
bounded by incomplete sheets of galaxies from other voids.[36] The Microscopium Supercluster is an
overdensity of galaxy clusters that was first noticed in the early 1990s. The component Abell
clusters 3695 and 3696 are likely to be gravitationally bound, while the relations of Abell
clusters 3693 and 3705 in the same field are unclear.[37]
Meteor showers[edit]
Seen in the 1824 star chart set Urania's Mirror (in the lower left)
The Microscopids are a minor meteor shower that appear from June to mid-July.[38]

History[edit]
The stars that comprise Microscopium are in a region previously considered the hind feet of
Sagittarius, a neighbouring constellation.[39] John Ellard Gore wrote that al-Sufi seems to have
reported that Ptolemy had seen the stars but he (Al Sufi) did not pinpoint their
positions.[40] Microscopium itself was introduced in 1751–52 by Lacaille with the French name le
Microscope,[41][42] after he had observed and catalogued 10,000 southern stars during a two-year stay
at the Cape of Good Hope. He devised fourteen new constellations in uncharted regions of
the Southern Celestial Hemisphere not visible from Europe. All but one honoured instruments that
symbolised the Age of Enlightenment.[43] Commemorating the compound microscope,[44] the
Microscope's name had been Latinised by Lacaille to Microscopium by 1763.[41]

Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ While parts of the constellation technically rise above the
horizon to observers between 45°N and 62°N, stars within a few
degrees of the horizon are to all intents and purposes unobservable.[3]
2. Jump up^ Objects of magnitude 5.0 are barely visible to the unaided
eye in the night skies of city-suburban transition areas.[5]
3. Jump up^ Objects of magnitude 6.5 are among the faintest visible to
the unaided eye in suburban-rural transition night skies.[5]

References[edit]
Citations[edit]

1. Jump up^ Russell, Henry Norris (1922). "The new international

symbols for the constellations". Popular Astronomy. Vol. 30.
p. 469. Bibcode:1922PA.....30..469R.
2. Jump up^ "Microscopium, constellation boundary". The
Constellations. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 13
July 2012.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c Ian Ridpath. "Constellations: Lacerta–
Vulpecula". Star Tales. Self-published. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
4. Jump up^ Kambič, Bojan (2009). Viewing the Constellations with
Binoculars. Springer. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-387-85354-3.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Bortle, John E. (February 2001). "The Bortle Dark-Sky
Scale". Sky & Telescope. Sky Publishing Corporation. Retrieved 29
November 2014.
6. Jump up^ Wagman 2003, pp. 181, 210.
7. Jump up^ Wagman 2003, p. 458.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b Motz, Lloyd; Nathanson, Carol (1991). The
Constellations: An Enthusiast's Guide to the Night Sky. London, United
Kingdom: Aurum Press. pp. 369–370. ISBN 978-1-85410-088-7.
9. Jump up^ Kaler, James B. (Jim). "Gamma Mic". Stars. Retrieved 13
July 2012.
10. Jump up^ Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018).
"Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey
properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616.
A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
11. Jump up^ Bailer-Jones, C. A. L. (2015). "Close encounters of the
stellar kind". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 575:
13. arXiv:1412.3648. Bibcode:2015A&A...575A..35B. doi:10.1051/000
4-6361/201425221. A35.
12. Jump up^ "Alpha MicroscopiI". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
13. Jump up^ Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018).
"Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey
properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616.
A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b Kaler, James B. (Jim). "Alpha Mic". Stars.
Retrieved 19 March2015.
15. Jump up^ Malin, David; Frew , David J. (1995). Hartung's
Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes, with an Addendum for
Northern Observatories: A Handbook for Amateur Observers.
Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
p. 287. ISBN 978-0-521-55491-6.
16. ^ Jump up to:a b Ridpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil (2007). Stars and Planets
Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 184–
185. ISBN 978-0-691-13556-4.
17. Jump up^ Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018).
"Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey
properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616.
A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
18. Jump up^ "Epsilon Microscopii". SIMBAD. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
19. Jump up^ Croswell, Ken (July 2002). "The Brightest Red Dwarf". Sky
& Telescope. p. 32. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
20. Jump up^ Dunstone, N.J.; Barnes, J.R.; Collier Cameron, A.; Jardine,
M. (2006). "The coronal structure of Speedy Mic – I. A densely packed
prominence system beyond corotation". Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society. 365 (2): 530–538. arXiv:astro-
ph/0510739. Bibcode:2006MNRAS.365..530D. doi:10.1111/j.1365-
2966.2005.09729.x.
21. Jump up^ Wolter, U.; Robrade, J.; Schmitt, J.H.M.M.; Ness, J. U.
(2008). "Doppler imaging an X-ray flare on the ultrafast rotator BO Mic.
A contemporaneous multiwavelength study using XMM-Newton and
VLT". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 478 (1): L11–
L14. arXiv:0712.0899. Bibcode:2008A&A...478L..11W. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361:20078838.
22. Jump up^ Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018).
"Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey
properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616.
A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361/201833051.Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
23. Jump up^ Caballero, J.A. (November 2009). "Reaching the boundary
between stellar kinematic groups and very wide binaries. The
Washington double stars with the widest angular
separations". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 507 (1): 251–
259. arXiv:0908.2761. Bibcode:2009A&A...507..251C. doi:10.1051/00
04-6361/200912596.
24. Jump up^ McCarthy, Kyle; White, Russel J. (2012). "The Sizes of the
Nearest Young Stars". The Astronomical Journal. 143 (6): 134–
168. arXiv:1201.6600. Bibcode:2012AJ....143..134M. doi:10.1088/000
4-6256/143/6/134.
25. ^ Jump up to:a b Cooper, Tim (2003). "Presidential address: Amateur
Observations – Successes and Opportunities". Monthly Notes of the
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. 62: 234–
240. Bibcode:2003MNSSA..62..234C.
26. Jump up^ Levy, David H. (1998). Observing Variable Stars: A Guide
for the Beginner. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University
Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-521-62755-9.
27. Jump up^ Arnold, H.J.P; Doherty, Paul; Moore, Patrick (1999). The
Photographic Atlas of the Stars. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.
p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7503-0654-6.
28. Jump up^ Pereira, C.B.; Roig, F. (2009). "High-Resolution
Spectroscopic Observations of Four Yellow-Type Symbiotic Stars: CD-
43°14304, Hen 3-1213, Hen 3-863, and StHα 176". The Astronomical
 Journal. 137 (1): 118–
128. Bibcode:2009AJ....137..118P. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/137/1/118.
29. Jump up^ López-Morales, Mercedes; Butler, R. Paul; Fischer, Debra
A.; Minniti, Dante; Shectman, Stephen A.; Takeda, Genya; Adams,
Fred C.; Wright, Jason T.; Arriagada, Pamela (2008). "Two Jupiter-
Mass Planets Orbiting HD 154672 and HD 205739". The Astronomical
Journal. 136 (5): 1901–
1905. arXiv:0809.1037. Bibcode:2008AJ....136.1901L. doi:10.1088/00
04-6256/136/5/1901.
30. Jump up^ Hellier, Coel; Anderson, D.R.; Gillon, M.; Lister, T.A.;
Maxted, P.F.L.; Queloz, D.; Smalley, B.; Triaud, A.H.M.J.; West, R.G.;
Wilson, D.M.; Alsubai, K.; Bentley, S.J.; Cameron, A. Collier; Hebb, L.;
Horne, K.; Irwin, J.; Kane, S.R.; Mayor, M.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.;
Skillen, I.; Udry, S.; Wheatley, P.J.; Christian, D.J.; Enoch, R.;
Haswell, C.A.; Joshi, Y.C.; Norton, A.J.; Parley, N.; Ryans, R. (2008).
"Wasp-7: A Bright Transiting-Exoplanet System in the Southern
Hemisphere". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 690 (1): L89–
L91. arXiv:0805.2600. Bibcode:2009ApJ...690L..89H. doi:10.1088/000
4-637X/690/1/L89.
31. Jump up^ Nesvold, Erika R.; Kuchner, Marc J. (2015). "Gap Clearing
by Planets in a Collisional Debris Disk". The Astrophysical
Journal. 798 (2):
10. arXiv:1410.7784. Bibcode:2015ApJ...798...83N. doi:10.1088/0004-
637X/798/2/83. 83.
32. Jump up^ Moore, Patrick (2000). Exploring the Night Sky with
Binoculars. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
p. 110. ISBN 978-0-521-79390-2.
33. Jump up^ Bakich, Michael E. (2010). 1001 Celestial Wonders to See
Before You Die: The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers. Patrick
Moore's Practical Astronomy Series. Springer. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-
4419-1776-8.
34. Jump up^ "Supernova 2011ei in NGC 6925". Rochester Astronomy.
Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
35. Jump up^ Moore, Patrick; Tirion, Wil (1997). Cambridge Guide to
Stars and Planets. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University
Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-521-58582-8.
36. Jump up^ Maurellis, A.; Fairall, A.P.; Matravers, D.R.; Ellis, G.F.R.
(1990). "A two-dimensional sheet of galaxies between two southern
voids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 229 (1): 75–
79. Bibcode:1990A&A...229...75M. ISSN 0004-6361.
37. Jump up^ Pearson, David W.; Batuski, David J. (2013). "Locating
bound structure in an accelerating universe". Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society. 000 (1): 1–
12. arXiv:1308.5154. Bibcode:2013MNRAS.436..796P. doi:10.1093/m
nras/stt1614.
38. Jump up^ Molau, Sirko; Kac, Javor; Berko, Erno; Crivello, Stefano;
Stomeo, Enrico; Igaz, Antal; Barentsen, Geert (July 2012). "Results of
the IMO Video Meteor Network". WGN, Journal of the International
Meteor Organization. 40 (5): 181–186. Bibcode:2012JIMO...40..181M.
39. Jump up^ Rubie, G. (1830). The British Celestial Atlas. London,
United Kingdom: Baldwin & Cradock. p. 36.
40. Jump up^ Gore, John Ellard (1909). Astronomical Curiosities: Facts
and Fallacies. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 978-1-4655-2442-3.
41. ^ Jump up to:a b Ridpath, Ian. "Lacaille's Southern Planisphere of
1756". Star Tales. Self-published. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
 42. Jump up^ Lacaille, Nicolas Louis (1756). "Relation abrégée du
Voyage fait par ordre du Roi au cap de Bonne-espérance". Mémoires
de l'Académie Royale des Sciences (in French): 519–592 [589].
43. Jump up^ Wagman 2003, pp. 6–7.
44. Jump up^ Ridpath, Ian. "Microscopium the Microscope". Star Tales.
Self-published. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
Cited texts[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related
to Microscopium.

 Wagman, Morton (2003). Lost Stars: Lost, Missing and

Troublesome Stars from the Catalogues of Johannes Bayer,
Nicholas Louis de Lacaille, John Flamsteed, and Sundry Others.
Blacksburg, Virginia: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing
Company. ISBN 978-0-939923-78-6.

show

Stars of Microscopium

show

The 88 modern constellations

show

Constellation history

show

Constellations introduced by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille after 1756

Coordinates: 21h 00m 00s, −36° 00′ 00″

Categories:
  Microscopium
 Southern constellations
 Constellations listed by Lacaille
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