Vulpecula

Abbreviation: Â Vul
English Name: Â The Fox
Genitive:Â Vulpeculae
Hemisphere:Â Â Northern Hemisphere
Location:Â Between the constellations of Cygnus and Sagitta.
Visible between latitudes: Â +90 and -55 degrees
Best season: Summer
Seen in three seasons:Â Spring, Summer, and Autumn.
Best seen in:  August
Seen between:Â March and November
Right Ascension (RA):  20 hour
Declination (DEC):Â Â +25 degrees
Area (square degrees): Â 268 (55th)

Vulpecula  (The Fox)

• A dim constellation of Vulpecula – Â lies in Milky-Way to the south of Cygnus (The Swan), it is relatively small and contains just a few objects of interest.
• It contains the Dumbbell Nebula – Â the easiest planetary nebula to see in the sky, myself I had seen it by naked-eye under a very good cold-air dark condition.

Messier Objects

• M27 – Planetary Nebula; known as Dumbbell Nebula – bluish and large, non-circular shape is detachable with binoculars, but about 8-inch is required for the dumbbell appearance to be clearly visible. (Magnitude: +7.6; a larger telescope will reveal its magnitude +13.0 central star.)

Features of Interest

• NGC 6882 / NGC 6885 Â – Â a pair of Open Clusters; weak concentration, may be viewed together with a wide field. Â Clearly seen with 4-inch telescope but considerably improved with a larger telescope. Located immediately North West of the Open Cluster NGC 6685 – known as Caldwell (37); around 30 stars detected, very bright & large.

Named Stars

• Anser (Alpha Vul)

Others

• Photo of the constellation; Vulpecula, as it appears to the naked eye. (Lines have been added for clarity.)
• Sky Chart  –  Vulpecula
• List of stars in Vulpecula.

Back to The 88 Constellations Lists  page.