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| Abbreviation: Aqr |
| English Name: The Water Bearer |
| Genitive: Sadalmelik |
| Hemisphere: Northern / Southern Hemisphere (bold means the more area in square feet in the Southern Hemisphere.) |
| Location: Between the constellations of Pisces and Capricorn. |
| Visible between latitudes: +65 and -90 degrees |
| Best season: Autumn |
| Seen in three seasons: Summer, Autumn and Winter |
| Best seen in: October (map) |
| Seen between: September and November |
| Right Ascension (RA): 23 hour |
| Declination (DEC): -15 degrees |
| Area (square degrees): 980 (10th) |
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Aquarius (The Water Bearer)
- A constellation of the zodiac (ecliptic), the Sun passing through it from 16th February to 11th March every year.
- The well-known constellation represents a figure pouring water from a jar.
- There are two important planetary nebulae; The Saturn Nebula and The Helix Nebula, also contains two globular clusters; Messier 2 and Messier 72.
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Messier Objects in Aquarius
| M2 – a globular cluster, just too faint to be seen with the naked-eye in dark conditions, but easy to see with binoculars or a small telescope. |
| M72 – Satellite galaxy of The Andromeda Galaxy (Elliptical Galaxy). |
| M73 – asterism of four stars. |
Other objects in Aquarius
| Select Catalog | No of Objects |
| Barnard (B) | 0x object |
| Caldwell (C) | 2x objects |
| Collinder (Cr) | 1x object |
| New General Catalogue (NGC) | 142x objects |
| Index Catalogue (IC) | 123x objects |
| Sharpless (Sh2) | 0x object |
Deep Sky Objects in Aquarius
| Object Type | No of Objects |
| Deep Sky Objects in Aquarius | Altogether: 480x objects |
| Breakdown of Deep Sky Objects | |
| – Open Clusters | 0x object |
| – Globular Clusters | 3x objects |
| – Galaxies | 267x objects |
| – Galaxy Clusters | 204x objects |
| – Planetary Nebulae | 3x objects |
| – Dark Nebulae | 0x object |
| – Hii Region | 3x objects |
| – Supernova Remnant | 0x object |
| – Emission Region | 0x object |
| – Reflection Nebula | 0x object |
| – Asterism | 0x object |
Features of Interest
- NGC7009 – The Saturn Nebula; a planetary Nebula – when seen through a telescope with an aperture of 200mm/8-inch or more, it appears to have an external body part that resembles the rings of Saturn.
- NGC7293 – The Helix Nebula; possibly the closest planetary nebula to Earth – only 300 light years away.
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Named Stars
- Sadalmelik (Alpha Aqr)
- Sadalsuud (Beta Aqr)
- Sadalachbia (Gamma Aqr)
- Skat (Delta Aqr)
- Albali (Epsilon Aqr)
- Ancha (Theta Aqr)
- Situla (Kappa Aqr)
- more lists of stars in Aquarius
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Planetarium / Constellation Map
| Live constellation visible from the UK :- Planetarium (Aquarius) | Best Seen in: October (map) | Seen between: September and November |
IAU Sky Chart: Aquarius
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Constellations – Visible from the UK
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Parts visible from the UK
| Antlia | Columba | Eridanus | Fornax | Microscopium | ||
| Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Sagittarius | Scorpius | ||
| Sculptor |
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Constellations: Southern Celestial Hemisphere
…..– never seen from the UK
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