The constellation Lynx, which is often visible in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, is named after the cat. Johannes Hevelius first described the constellation in the latter part of the 17th century. The brightest stars in this dim constellation make a zigzag pattern. The brightest star in the constellation is the orange giant Alpha Lyncis, and the semiregular variable star Y Lyncis is a popular target for amateur astronomers. Planets have been discovered in six-star systems. The Doppler approach was used to find those of 6 Lyncis and HD 75898; those of XO-2, XO-4, XO-5, and WASP-13 were found as they passed in front of the host star.
The Lynx Supercluster, which was the farthest supercluster known at the time of its discovery in 1999, is located within the boundaries of the constellation. It is also surrounded by the unusually remote globular cluster NGC 2419, the galaxy NGC 2770, which has recently hosted three Type 1b supernovae, the distant quasar APM 08279+5255, whose light is magnified and split into multiple images by the gravitational lensing effect of a fore |
History
Between the constellations of Ursa Major and Auriga, nineteen weak stars that had previously been a part of the extinct constellation Jordanus Fluvius were used by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius to create the constellation in 1687. He gave it the name Lynx because it was so faint, and he challenged future stargazers to notice it because only those with good vision would have been able to see it. Hevelius continued to use the name Tigris (Tiger) in his list but only in his atlas. The constellation was picked by English astronomer John Flamsteed for his 1712 catalogue and subsequent atlas. (Wagman 2003). |
Characteristics
Lynx is bounded to the north by Camelopardalis, to the west by Auriga, to the southwest by Gemini, to the south by Cancer, to the east by Leo, and to the northeast by Ursa Major. It ranks 28th in size out of eighty-eight constellations, exceeding more well-known constellations like Gemini, and covers 545.4 square degrees, or 1.322 percent, of the night sky. The International Astronomical Union designated "Lyn" as the three-letter abbreviation for the constellation in 1922. (Russell 1922) The official constellation borders were established in 1930 by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte and are represented by a 20-segment polygon. These borders' right ascension coordinates are between 06h 16m 13.76s and 09h 42m 50.22s in the equatorial coordinate system, while their declination coordinates are between +32.97° and +61.96°. On clear nights, the brighter stars can be seen as a wavy line roughly between Camelopardalis and Leo, (Thompson & Fritchman 2007) and to the north of the prominent star Castor. (Allen 1963) Northern hemisphere watchers can most easily observe lynx from late winter to late summer, with midnight culmination on January 20. (Thompson & Fritchman 2007) North of latitude twenty-eight degrees South, observers can see the entire constellation.
Lynx is bounded to the north by Camelopardalis, to the west by Auriga, to the southwest by Gemini, to the south by Cancer, to the east by Leo, and to the northeast by Ursa Major. It ranks 28th in size out of eighty-eight constellations, exceeding more well-known constellations like Gemini, and covers 545.4 square degrees, or 1.322 percent, of the night sky. The International Astronomical Union designated "Lyn" as the three-letter abbreviation for the constellation in 1922. (Russell 1922) The official constellation borders were established in 1930 by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte and are represented by a 20-segment polygon. These borders' right ascension coordinates are between 06h 16m 13.76s and 09h 42m 50.22s in the equatorial coordinate system, while their declination coordinates are between +32.97° and +61.96°. On clear nights, the brighter stars can be seen as a wavy line roughly between Camelopardalis and Leo, (Thompson & Fritchman 2007) and to the north of the prominent star Castor. (Allen 1963) Northern hemisphere watchers can most easily observe lynx from late winter to late summer, with midnight culmination on January 20. (Thompson & Fritchman 2007) North of latitude twenty-eight degrees South, observers can see the entire constellation.
Deep-sky Objects
NGC 2419 – Globular Cluster
NGC 2537 – Dwarf Galaxy
IC 2233 – Spiral galaxy
NGC 2841 group – Group of galaxies
- NGC 2541 – Unbarred Spiral Galaxy
- NGC 2500 – Barred Spiral Galaxy
- NGC 2552 – Magellanic Spiral Galaxy
Main stars - 4
Bayer stars - 42
Stars with planets - 6
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - 0
Stars within 32 Ly - 1
Bordering
constellations
- Ursa Major
- Camelopardalis
- Auriga
- Gemini
- Cancer
- Leo
- Leo Minor
Meteor showers
Alpha Lyncids – mid-December to early January
September Lyncids – Early September