Delphinus

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Contents of this page: | Description | Skylore | Modern Culture | Origin and History | Asterisms | Submit new info... |

Images (at bottom of page): | Delphinus Chart: (Figure 1) | Hyginus, 1482, page 4v: (Figure 2) | Hyginus, 1517, page F4r: (Figure 3) | Ptolemy, 1541-const, page Delphinus: (Figure 4) | Bayer, 1661, page R: (Figure 5) | Bayer, 1697, page F4v: (Figure 6) | Bayer, 1697, page G1r: (Figure 7) | Bode, 1801, page r: (Figure 8) | Aspin, 1825, page Delphinus: (Figure 9) | Images digitized by Hannah Magruder.

Constellation Data

• Name: Delphinus
• Translation: Dolphin
• Abbreviation: Del
• Genitive: Delphini (What is the Genitive form?)
• Size: 69 of 88
• Located between: Aquarius, Aquila, Equuleus, Pegasus, Sagitta, Vulpecula
• RA: 21 hours. (What is Right Ascension?)
• Decl: +10 degrees. (Is this constellation ever visible from my latitude? What is Declination?)
• Season: Summer
• Midnight Culmination: July 31 (Where should I look for a constellation on a date before or after its midnight culmination? What is Midnight Culmination?
• References: Chet Raymo, 365 Starry Nights, 61,150.

Description

Located between Pegasus and Aquila, look for four stars in a diamond (also called Job’s Coffin).

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Skylore and Literature

Delphinus rescued Arion, a singer, after pirates threw him overboard. After Arion rode the dolphin to shore, the pirates were captured and executed.

• Please submit Skylore suggestions to Laura Gibbs.
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Modern Culture

• Books: (Book list maintained by JoAnn Palmeri).
• Movies: Internet movie database. (Movie list maintained by Sylvia Patterson).
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Origin and History

Delphinus is included in the ancient star catalogs of Eudoxos of Knidos, Aratos of Soli, and Ptolemy.

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Asterisms

Job’s Coffin

• What is an Asterism?
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Submit new info...

Many excellent websites provide a variety of information about constellations for amateur astronomers and telescope users (see sidebar links for a few of these). These constellation pages are not intended to duplicate those efforts, but are devoted to two aims: First, they are intended to assist the beginning skywatcher, including students in history of science survey courses, in becoming familiar with Basic Celestial Phenomena (BCP). Second, these pages are devoted to the history of the constellations and the history of astronomy. They are intended to serve as a repository for collaborative use and reference. Do you have additional historical information about the stars or constellation described on this page? Please submit additional information to kmagruder@ou.edu. Submissions will be attributed. Editors for historical information are Kerry Magruder, JoAnn Palmeri, Peter Barker, and Laura Gibbs.

Oklahoma History of Science exhibits: http://hos.ou.edu/exhibits/. Page revised 4/15/04

Bad links, misplaced images, or questions? Contact Kerry Magruder. Thank you.

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"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown. But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile." R. W. Emerson, Nature

Images

Exhibit credit: Kerry Magruder.