HOME


LUPUS

The Wolf

centaurus bayer-color-s (220K)
Centaurus and Lupus - Uranometria by Johann Bayer - 1603

Lupus, the wolf, is often referred to as "The Victim", the hapless animal traditionally shown on its back, being skewered by Chiron, the Centaur, in the constellation Centaurus, with which it is invariably connected. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as "Therium", to the Romans, "Bestia", both terms simply meaning the beast. It was ultimately identified as a wolf by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy.

lupus (47K)
Lupus - June 1, 10:00 PM - Latitude 25° North, Longitude 95° West





Stars of Lupus

Alpha Lupi (RA: 14h41m55.724s DE:-47°23'17.88")

There are no named stars in Lupus. The brightest star is Alpha Lupi, with a magnitude of 2.30. It is a very hot B2IV blue subgiant with a surface temperature of 21,600 degrees K. It is far away at a distance of 550 light years.

Beta Lupi (RA: 14h58m31.875s DE:-43°08'02.88")

The second brightest star is Beta Lupi, just as it should be, with a magnitude of 2.68. Like Alpha Lupi, it is a very hot blue star, another B2IV blue subgiant, with a surface temperature of 22,659 degrees K, at a distance of 465 light years.

Planets of Lupus

There are only three stars in Lupus with confirmed planetary systems, and they are all far away and beyond visual range, and the planets discovered so far are all gas giants. For more information on these and other extrasolar planets, visit NASA's New Worlds Atlas, and The Open Exoplanets Catalogue.


Deep Skies of Lupus

Supernova Remnant 1006 (RA: 15h02m 8s DE:-41°57'0")

Lupus is home to several deep sky wonders. The most famous of these is SN 1006, the brightest supernova ever seen. It occurred on May 1, 1006, and was seen all over the world, from China to Europe. With the sole exception of the Moon, it was brighter than anything else in the sky, including the brilliant planet Venus. It was visible during the day for several weeks, and visible to the naked eye for more than two years before finally fading away. A thousand years later, we are left with a spectacular expanding cloud of gas, known as a supernova remnant.

sn1006-chandra-cr (219K)
SN 1006 - Supernova Remnant - Chandra X-ray Observatory - July, 2008

In 2006, on the 1000 year anniversary of the supernova explosion of 1006, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a segment of the nebula's outside shell in unprecedented detail.

sn1006-hubble (102K)
SN 1006 -Supernova Remnant - Hubble Space Telescope - July, 2008

NGC 5882 (RA: 15h16m 48.0s DE:-45°39'00")

The Hubble Space Telescope also captured a stunning view of the plantary nebula NGC 5882. Although it appears as a planetary disk through the lens of a small telescope, Hubble reveals the nebula's true nature as an expanding cloud of gas given off by the death throes of a star similar to our Sun. The nebula is 60 light years across, and about 7,000 light years away, with a magnitude of 10.5.

ngc5882-hubble-sm (92K)
NGC 5882 - Planetary Nebula - Hubble Space Telescope - April, 2011

IC 4406 - The Retina Nebula (RA: 14h22m 24.0s DE:-44°09'00")

Lupus also contains another planetary nebula, IC 4406, commonly known as The Retina Nebula. It is about 1,900 light years away, with a magnitude of 11.0.

ic4406-hubble-cr (50K)
IC 4406 - The Retina Nebula - Hubble Space Telescope - June, 2002

NGC 5986 (RA: 15h46m06.0s DE:-37°47'00")

Lupus also contains the globular cluster, NGC 5986. At magnitude 7.6 it is a good target for a small telescope.

ngc5986-dss (275K)
NGC 5986 - Globular Star Cluster - STScI Digitized Sky Survey


cometarrowbcentaurus (3K) cometarrowfcrux (2K)


WINTER
Orion   Canis Major   Canis Minor   Lepus   Monoceros   Gemini   Taurus   Aries   Auriga   Camelopardalis  
Lynx   Eridanus   Columba   Caelum   Fornax   Phoenix   Horologium   Reticulum   Pictor   Dorado   Mensa   Hydrus  
SPRING
Ursa Major   Ursa Minor   Draco   Bootes   Canes Venatici   Coma Berenices   Virgo   Leo   Cancer  
Leo Minor   Sextans   Hydra   Crater   Corvus   Antlia   Pyxis   Puppis   Vela   Carina   Volans   Musca   Chamaeleon  
SUMMER
Cygnus   Lyra   Vulpecula   Sagitta   Aquila   Hercules   Corona Borealis   Ophiuchus   Serpens   Libra  
Scorpius   Sagittarius   Corona Australis    Telescopium   Ara   Norma    Centaurus   Lupus   Crux   Circinus   Triangulum Australe   Apus  
AUTUMN
Andromeda   Perseus   Cassiopeia   Cepheus   Pegasus   Cetus   Triangulum   Lacerta   Delphinus   Equuleus  
Scutum   Capricornus   Aquarius   Pisces   Sculptor   Piscis Australis   Microscopium   Grus   Indus   Tucana   Pavo   Octans  


contact (3K) copyright (2K)